Patna: Police in Bihar have launched an investigation after the body of a 10-year-old girl was discovered hanging from a tree in a waterlogged garden in Maner, Patna, on Thursday.
The child, who lived locally, had gone to collect firewood in Mahinawaan garden on August 26 but did not return home. Her family lodged a missing person’s report after failing to trace her, though relatives have alleged that police initially refused to register the case.
On August 28, villagers found her body suspended from a mango tree in Ratantola and raised the alarm. The discovery has sparked tension in the area, with residents staging a road blockade in protest.
The girl’s aunt accused the owner of the orchard of rape and alleged police negligence. She claimed officers turned the family away when they first approached them and demanded bribes before carrying out searches. “If the police had acted promptly, my daughter could have been found alive on the 26th itself,” she said.
Bhanu Pratap Singh, City SP West, confirmed that forensic teams had been sent to the site and said the case “appears to be murder at this stage”, with sexual assault also being investigated.
