A nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered at Hatpada in Kotagarh area of Odisha's Kandhamal district, police said Sunday.
The incident took place when the girl, a student of class four, had gone for a bath to a nearby nullah after returning home from school on Saturday, Additional Superintendent of Police U R Das said.
When the girl did not return home for a long time, her father lodged a complaint with Kotagarh police station. Later in the evening, villagers spotted her body lying half naked near a bush with blood and injury marks, the police said.
With the family members of the girl and villagers alleging that she was raped and murdered, the body was sent for autopsy and scientific investigation was on, they said.
Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Balliguda Nitin Kusalkar, said a man identified as Gagan Pradhan, aged around 30, has been arrested in connection with the crime.
In the aftermath of the incident, tension prevailed in Kotagarh town and adjoining areas with angry people resorting to road blockade demanding immediate arrest of the culprit and adequate compensation to the bereaved family.
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They also demanded steps to shut down all liquor shops in the area saying liquor was the main cause of such crimes.
The protesters who had staged road blockade till late Saturday night also held a sit-in on Sunday.