Badaun replay: Minor's body found hanging from tree in Bengal

In a horrific repeat of the Badaun rape-and-murder case in Uttar Pradesh, the body of a seven-year-old girl was found hanging from a tree at Rajnagar village in West Bengal's East Midnapore district Thursday.

District superintendent of police Sukesh Jain said the girl was missing since Wednesday evening. Her father lodged a police complaint Thursday against three persons from the village at Nandakumar police station. However, before police could apprehend the accused, villagers had severely beaten them up and set their houses afire. While one of the three died, the other two were rescued by the police and admitted in a local hospital.

The body of the girl, found hanging from a neem tree, has been sent for post mortem. The body had been brought down by the villagers before police arrived in the village, Jain said.

A family member of the victim said she had gone to buy some puffed rice Wednesday evening and was missing since then.

"She was sexually assaulted and killed. When we brought down the body, blood was oozing out," said a villager.

The Bengal incident happened about two months after two teenaged cousins were gang-raped and hanged from a tree in Katra Sadatganj village of Badaun district.