The body of a six-year-old girl with strangulation marks was Thursday found inside a water tank of her house in Rajasthan's Kota district, police said.
The incident was reported from Old Railway Colony of Kota city, they said.
The body of Gunisha Koli had ligature marks on her neck as she was probably strangulated with her vest, SHO, Railway Colony Police Station, Anis Ahmed said.
The girl was asleep in one of the rooms with her mother Geeta. At around 3.30 am, the mother woke up and found her child to be missing, they said.
The family informed the police and began searching for the girl, who was found inside the water tank on the terrace of the house, they added.
"It is a clear case of murder, the girl was first strangulated and later thrown in the water tank to cover up the crime," Ahmed said.
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When the incident occurred there were nine persons in the house and one of them is likely to have committed the crime, he alleged.
The victim's parents were separated and she was staying at her maternal grandfather's house here, Ahmed said, adding that the father of the girl is also a railways employee and lives in the same colony.
A case of murder has been registered against unidentified accused and the girl's body was handed over to the family after the post-mortem, the officer added.
The police is inquiring all the family members including the deceased's father, Ahmed said.
The incident comes days after the body of a six-month old boy was recovered from a rooftop water tank in a residential colony under Borekheda police station near here.
The 35-year-old mother was arrested for killing her son and is currently under judicial custody.