9-yr-old strangled

MUMBAI, SEPT 17: The police today launched a manhunt for the killer of 9-year-old schoolgirl whose mutilated body was found on the railwa...

MUMBAI, SEPT 17: The police today launched a manhunt for the killer of 9-year-old schoolgirl whose mutilated body was found on the railway tracks on Wednesday.

The girl, a student of standard IV at Feroz High School near Jogeshwari was reported missing since the night of September 13 when she left home to deliver a book to her classmate in the neighbourhood between Sajid Tower and S V Road in Jogeshwari west. Her body was found on the tracks between Khar and Santacruz railway stations.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police zone VII K L Prasad told Express Newsline that an autopsy of the body revealed that the girl was raped and strangulated to death. He revealed that the victim8217;s classmate said she last saw the girl talking to a man, who the police suspect kidnapped her. Prima facie evidence suggest the man must be known to the family since she had walked away with him without putting up any resistance, said Prasad.

The police contend that the suspect must have thrown the body on the railwaytracks to mislead investigators into believing that it was a case of hit and run by a local train.

The girl8217;s father, who is a school teacher, lodged a missing complaint at Oshiwara police station on September 14 that his daughter had not returned home since previous night. The description of the missing was relayed to Missing Persons8217; Bureau when the Bandra Railway Police found the body and filed a First Information Report FIR on Wednesday.

The Oshiwara police have converted the missing complaint into a case of kidnapping and murder.

In a similar case, the Oshiwara police have lodged a complaint of a 13-year-old girl who was found missing since September 15. In this case too the victim is a student of a nearby school.

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The police have been working on the possibility that a habitual offender may be targeting small girls. Meanwhile, patrolling has been stepped up to nab the suspect, said a senior police officer.