india

Updated: Aug 08, 2019 07:34 IST

A 10-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped and murdered by two men in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district, police said on Wednesday. The two men, who work as labourers, were arrested.

The girl, a class 5 student, went missing on Monday evening from Kotdwar town of the district. Her family lodged a complaint with police on Tuesday after failing to trace her, an officer said.

“The incident happened when the girl, who lives with her father and grandmother, had gone to buy grocery from a store near her home. Her mother lives separately in Haldwani,” said Pradeep Rai, additional superintendent of police, Pauri Garhwal.

Rai said Padam Singh, 25, and Ashok, 30, were arrested after analysing CCTV camera footage and questioning locals. “Both the accused hail from Nepal and work as labourers in the area.”

Singh lured the girl with chocolates and took her to an old loco shed, about 500m away from her house, where Ashok was already waiting, the police officer said.

“The two rape her there and then strangled her to death before dumping her body in bushes. On the basis of their confession, police recovered the girls’ body that was eaten by animals,” said Rai.