Kolhapur, Aug 22 (IANS): In another shocker, a 10-year-old girl, the daughter of migrant labourers from Bihar, was allegedly raped and killed, and her body dumped in a sugarcane field early near Maharashtra's Kolhapur on Thursday, sparking outrage in this erstwhile royal city.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis were in Kolhapur attending a ‘Ladki Bahin’ programme when the news erupted and they immediately called for details of the incident.
Speaking to the media later, Fadnavis said that the girl had gone missing on Wednesday afternoon after she was allegedly punished by her uncle, and subsequently the family began a search for her.
“As she remained untraced till 10 p.m., the family lodged a police complaint and search teams found her body early today in a sugarcane field. The police have detained some suspects and further investigations are on. We shall provide all necessary help to the victim’s family," he assured.
According to Kolhapur Superintendent of Police Mahendra Pandit, the incident happened in the Ramnagar locality of Shiye village and the police have detained a couple of persons for questioning.
Pandit said that the family had come to work here from Bihar around three years ago and resided in the Ramnagar area in the jurisdiction of the Shiroli MIDC.
The girl's father Guddu Singh Agrahari and his wife work as labourers in a private company in MIDC and had gone to the factory as usual at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, while their daughter, along with her 2 sisters and 2 brothers, lived with her maternal uncle.
When they returned home from work last evening, they did not see the daughter anywhere and made enquiries in the neighbourhood, but failed to find her.
The uncle said that after having lunch, he was resting and the girl was playing on the mobile phone, and probably left home later to play outside.
The police teams and locals launched a massive hunt for her last night, scanned CCTV footage in the vicinity, inspected streams, wells, and farms and later deployed a dog squad which helped locate her body this morning.
“So far, we have detained three to four suspects for questioning and are waiting for the autopsy report. Till then, I cannot comment more," Shiroli MIDC Police Station in-charge Pankaj Giri told IANS.
The incident surfaced as the Badlapur alleged rape of two nursery girls is still raging in public minds and could further embarrass the ruling MahaYuti.
Taking serious note of the series of similar incidents in Badlapur, Thane, Akola, Pune, and now Kolhapur, Maharashtra Women’s Congress President Sandhya Savvalakhe demanded the resignation of CM Shinde and Deputy CM Fadnavis.
"Instead of ensuring the safety and security of the women in their own state of Maharashtra, they keep talking about West Bengal, and don't have the time to even visit the victims’ families," said Savvalakhe.