A nine-year-old girl was found dead after being raped in Worli on Tuesday. Her body was found lying on the foot path. Police said there were strangulation marks on her neck.

The deceased has been identified as Savita Sunil Parwale. Savita, a Std III student, was staying with her parents in a slum colony at the corner of E Moses Road in Worli. The body was found barely 200 meters away from her house.

According to the police, the incident came to light at around 7am when some residents contacted the police control room, saying a girl was lying unconscious on the footpath of Dainik Shivneri Road at Worli. A police mobile van immediately rushed to the spot and took the girl to Nair Hospital where doctors revealed that she was strangulated to death after being raped. Sunil Parwale identified the body as his daughter.

“We have registered a case under Sections 376 (A) (rape), 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections of the Preventions of Children for Sexual Offences Act against unidentified persons,” said Deepak Pawar, senior police inspector. He said the police are interrogating her neighbours. Pawar said her family members didn’t know when Savita left home.