Kolkata, Nov 6 — The semi-decomposed body of a 12-year-old girl, who had been missing for two days, was recovered from a jungle in Raiganj in West Bengal's North Dinajpur district on Friday morning, triggering tension in the area.
The condition in which the body was found, with no clothes on it, has raised suspicions of sexual assault and murder. However, the police said the exact nature of the crime would be established only after the post-mortem examination.
According to the victim's family members, the girl had gone out for a bicycle ride on the afternoon of November 3 but did not return home. Her family members searched for her at several places but failed to trace her.
They subsequently lodged a missing person complaint at Raiganj Police Station on the same day, and the police launched a search operation to locate the missing minor.
On Friday morning, news spread that the body of a minor girl had been spotted inside a jungle in the area. The family members rushed to the spot and identified the body, which was in a partially decomposed condition, as that of the missing girl.
Police personnel also reached the spot, recovered the body and sent it for a post-mortem examination.
The victim's family members suspect that she was sexually assaulted before being murdered.
"I went out for work on Tuesday morning. When I returned home, I learnt that she was missing. We subsequently searched for her at various places but could not trace her. Now, this morning, her body has been recovered from inside the jungle," the girl's aunt, who lives in the same house, told media persons.
The Raiganj police have launched an investigation to ascertain the circumstances leading to the girl's death and identify those responsible.
"Though we too suspect that this could be a case of rape and murder, it cannot be conclusively established at this stage whether sexual assault took place. The post-mortem report will help determine this. The examination will be conducted on Friday," an investigating officer said.
He added that investigators were trying to reconstruct the sequence of events between the time the girl went missing and the discovery of her body.
The police are also examining CCTV footage from cameras installed in and around the area where the body was recovered. The girl's mobile phone is also being examined as part of the investigation.
No one has been arrested or detained in connection with the incident so far.