A mutilated body of an eight-year-old girl was found with injury marks in a car shed near Hoskote near here, police said Friday.





"Preliminary investigation of bite marks and injuries on private parts of the body shows the victim was molested and raped before being smothered to death by an unidentified youth," Bengaluru Superintendent of Police (Rural) B. Ramesh told IANS here.



The incident came to light late Thursday when the victim's father Mahantesh filed a complaint at the Sulebele police station in the city's eastern suburbs that his daughter was missing from home.



"After searching for two-three hours, our team found the victim in the car shed opposite an oil marketing firm office in Hoskote. We are analysing the CCT) footage to identify the culprit. The footage is blurred as the area around the shed and the passage to it was in shadows," Ramesh said. Hoskote is 40 km from here.



According to eye witnesses, the youth, aged around 25 years, was drunk and not from the local area. Passersby had seen the alleged culprit taking the victim into the car shed and downing the shutters.



Ramesh said eight search teams had been set up to trace the culprit and a case of rape and murder filed against the suspect under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and sections 376 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).