Bhubaneswar, Dec 22 (IANS): A man arrested for the murder of a five-year-old girl had tried to have sex with the body after strangling the child at his house in Odisha's Nayagarh district, SIT chief Arun Bothra claimed on Tuesday.

Accused Saroj Sethi had strangled the girl from Jadupur village when she resisted his rape attempt. After she died, Sethi attempted to have sexual intercourse with the corpse, Botha told media persons in Cuttack.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Bothra is probing the alleged abduction and murder of the girl. The SIT chief said the prime accused was addicted to child pornography.

He said that the girl had gone to Saroj's house, about 100 metre from her house, on July 14 to collect berries. Saroj, who was alone at his house, took her to a room and allegedly tried to undress her. She resisted and started crying, after which he strangled her.

"After killing the girl, Saroj tried to have sex with the body. It is one of the most disturbing and eerie cases in my policing career spanning 22 years," Bothra said.

While the accused failed to have sex with the corpse, semen discharge was found on the girl's clothes, he added.

Later, the accused stuffed the body in a gunny bag and hid it under coconut fronds near a pond.

Reacting to SIT chief's statement, the girl's father said it was all scripted. "We have been demanding a CBI probe into the murder, but the SIT is creating drama. Two other girls, who were playing with my daughter, had said that one Kanhu had abducted my daughter and taken her to Babuli Nayak," he told media persons.

The girl's parents had attempted self-immolation in front of the Assembly during the Winter Session on November 24.

The parents alleged that Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo was shielding accused Babuli Nayak, who allegedly abducted and murdered their daughter as part of a kidney racket.