Lucknow: A 17-year-old girl who had gone missing two days ago in Uttar Pradesh's Bhadohi was found dead on Wednesday.
The family alleged that her face and upper portion of the body was burnt with an acid to hide her identity, however, the post-mortem report states that the girl died after drowning in a river.
According to the local sources, villagers are suspecting that she was raped and murdered.
Reportedly, the incident allegedly took place at a village in the Dhaurhara area of the district. Her body was recovered from the Varuna River on Wednesday afternoon.
The girl had gone to graze cattle on Monday but went missing after which police were informed.
The state of the body suggests that she could have been raped and her face and upper part of the body burnt to hide her identity, a cop said, adding that the girl's family identified her through her jeans.
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Meanwhile, locals staged a protest on the Bhadohi-Jaunpur road demanding immediate arrest of the culprits and did not allow the police to take the body out of the river.
In the preliminary inquiry, it appears the girl was strangled and her face burnt to hide her identity, the SP said. The father of the girl has suspected the role of a brick kiln owner and some others in the crime and police is looking for them.
"It appears that acid was thrown to her face in order to hide her identity. Our probe is underway, the culprits will be nabbed very soon," the SP stated.
Inputs from PTI
