Surat Police seek help on social media to identify 11-year-old raped-murdered girl

SURAT: Almost a week after nobody claimed the body of an 11-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in Gujarat's Surat, the city police released two photographs of the child on social media seeking help in identifying her.

Taking to Twitter, the Surat City Police provided two contact numbers - one of Surat city crime branch and other of Pandesara police station - and asked to report about any information of the girl's family or the culprit.

"On 06/04/2018, a girl's body was found near the Cricket ground in Surat City. In case of any information about the girl's family or the assailants, contact Surat city crime on  02612436024 or Pandesara Police Station on 02612890200. A reward will also be provided," tweeted Surat City Police.

In a reminder to the Kathua gangrape and murder case, the mutilated body of 11-year-old girl recovered from Surat's Bhestan locality. The victim is said to be held captive, tortured and raped over a period of time, said the police on Sunday. The case has been transferred to the Crime Branch.

Appealing people for help, the Surat city Police Commissioner Satish Sharma had said that over 1200 posters pasted across Surat and trains to identify the girl. 

In an attempt to identify the girl, the victim's details were also cross-checked with that of 8000 complaints about lost children. The police have reportedly conducted a door-to-door survey in the nearby areas from the place where the child's body was recovered.

Her body was recovered on Friday, April 6, by the side of a highway. Postmortem reports have now confirmed sexually assault. The girl was murdered on April 5, said the police.

It is now being believed that the girl, probably belonging to Odiya or Bengali community, was killed and the body dumped outside Surat, said Sharma.

The post-mortem examination of the girl revealed a case of "strangulation and smothering" with 86 signs of minor injuries, including sexual assault, he added. Some of the injuries were, however, old.