Parari murder case: 8-year-old gang raped before being murdered; 4 accused arrested

Mangaluru: In a major twist to the killing of an 8-year-old girl at Parari in Ulaibettu here, it has come to light that the girl was gang-raped before being mercilessly murdered and discarded in a ditch.

Police said that four accused, aged between 20 and 33, have been arrested for the crime. The accused have been identified as Jayban alias Jay Singh (21), Mukesh Singh (23), Manish Tirki (33), Muneem Singh (20). Manish Singh is from Ranchi in Jharkhand while the other three are from Panna in Madhya Pradesh.

All four accused were workers at the tile factory where the child’s parents are employed, police said.

Police said the accused had planned to rape the child a few days prior to the day of the murder but decided to postpone it to Sunday as there would be very few people around.

On Sunday, the girl had gone missing since 4 pm. The parents searched for the girl in the surrounding areas, including the premises of the tile factory where her father works. Her body was then found dumped in a drain near the factory.

According to the police, the four accused forcefully took the girl who was playing near a water tank to their room and took turns to sexually assault the girl. As the girl resisted and shouted due to the pain, one of the accused choked the girl to silence her and killed her in the process. The four then dumped the lifeless body in a nearby ditch.

After disposing of the body two of the accused stayed behind at the factory and had even taken part in the search for the girl. The other two fled from the site saying that they were going to Puttur on an errand.

Jayban and Manish had sexually abused the girl on several occasions days prior to the murder, police said.

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