A truck driver who allegedly raped and murdered a six-year-old girl in Tonk district of Rajasthan was arrested on Monday.
Mahendra alias Dholu had taken the girl from her school to an isolated area on the pretext of giving toffees on Saturday and committed the crime, police said.
"The accused, an acquaint to the victim, feared that the girl would narrate this to her parents and would reveal his identity therefore he murdered her," SP Adarsh Sidhu told reporters in Tonk.
He was in a drunken state when he raped and murdered the girl. After that, he did not go to his home and was hiding at different places. He was planning to leave Rajasthan as soon as possible but he was caught from a place in Aligarh town, he said.
Aged around 40 years, the accused is a truck driver and a father of two girls.
"He has been arrested and being interrogated further," he added.
The child had gone missing after a sports function in her school on Saturday. The function got over at 3 pm and she was not seen after that.
Her family members started looking for her and found the body the next morning in an isolated spot about 400 metres from the school.
She was strangled to death with her school belt which was tied around her neck.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Sunday night that the accused will not be spared.
"The rape and murder of the minor girl is highly condemnable and shameful. The accused of the heinous crime will not be spared," Gehlot said.
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