Hyderabad

A 35-year-old truck driver was arrested early Friday for allegedly raping and killing a six-year-old girl in Telangana’s Peddapalli area, police said.

The incident took place in Sultanabad city of the district. “The accused, Balaram, belonging to Madhya Pradesh and working as a truck driver at Maitha rice mills, was arrested,” Ramagundam Police Commissioner M Sreenivasulu told reporters.

A case was filed under Section 302 (murder) and Section 376AB (rape of a minor girl below 12 years of age) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), besides relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Sexual Assault Act crimes (Pocso), he said. .

The victim was the eldest of two daughters of a couple, who migrated to Sultanabad from Asifabad in Mancherial district to work in a rice mill.

According to Sreenivasulu, the suspect took the minor girl, who was sleeping next to her mother in a camp on the premises of the adjacent rice mill, to a secluded spot behind the mill. “He raped her and when the girl raised an alarm, he strangled her neck and killed her,” he said.

When the girl’s mother woke up after some time, she found her daughter missing. She alerted her fellow workers and they started looking for the girl. After some time they found the girl’s body in the bushes.

“They noticed Balaram moving suspiciously around the area and detained him. They thrashed him before handing him over to Sultanabad police, who formally arrested him and registered the case,” the police commissioner said.

A video clip obtained from CCTV cameras installed in the rice mill premises showed Balram carrying the minor on his shoulder and walking into an almost pitch-black area, where the girl’s body was found.

“The body of the victim has been sent to a government hospital for post-mortem examination. Further investigation is underway,” the commissioner said, adding that the suspect would be produced before the local court for judicial remand.