MP: 5-yr-old girl missing from 2 days raped and murdered in Bhopal, 3 arrested

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], September 26 : Madhya Pradesh police arrested three accused in connection with the abduction, rape, and murder of a five-year-old girl who was missing for two days in the state capital Bhopal, a police officer said on Thursday.
The minor girl was missing from her house situated in the Shahjahanabad locality, Bhopal, on Tuesday afternoon. The child's parents were not at home when she disappeared. She was with her grandmother and told her that she was going to retrieve a book from a friend's house but did not return.
On Thursday, the police recovered her body from a water tank at a neighbour's house.
Bhopal Commissioner Harinarayanchari Mishra told ANI, "In the Shahjahanabad area, two days ago, a case of abduction was registered after a complaint of a minor girl went missing from her home. Over 100 police personnel were engaged in searching for the minor girl nearby locations at the incident site. On Thursday, the police came to know that a youth killed the minor and hid her body in a house located in front of the minor's home."
Along with this, the police identified two more accused involved in the crime and arrested all three of them within hours of the incident being disclosed. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to probe the incident. It will be ensured that strict action be taken against the accused, he said.
"The accused was known to the girl, and he lived in front of her house. He called the girl, and as she knew him, she went near him. Thereafter, he committed the crime. Prima facie, it is suspected that a rape incident occurred and then she was murdered," Commissioner Mishra said.
The two other people, the mother and sister of the main accused, have also been accused in the case on the charge of hiding the evidence, the officer said.
Further investigation into the matter is underway, he added.