An eight-year-old girl was tortured and killed for plucking mangoes from an orchard in Bihar’s Araria district, adjoining Nepal. The girl’s body bore cut marks and she was also subjected to electric shock.

mango
Basmatiya police station in Bihar’s Araria district where the case has been lodged.(HT photo)

ARARIA: An eight-year-old girl was allegedly tortured to death after she strayed into a private orchard to collect mangoes at a village bordering Nepal in Bihar’s Araria district on Sunday.

Amerun Khatun had gone shopping with her father, Ibrahim Safi, on the eve of Eid. While returning, she insisted on collecting some mangoes from an orchard, which was on way. Safi, however turned down her request, only to realise sometime later that Khatun had given him the slip in the milling crowd.

Hoping that his daughter would return home, which was nearby, Safi continued with his homeward journey. “It was only when she did not return till late Sunday evening that I got panicky. Later, villagers informed me that my daughter was lying in a pool of blood near a well, adjoining the orchard,” Safi said.

“I found my daughter murdered brutally. There were several cut marks on her body and she was subjected to electric shock as well, to give an impression that she had been accidentally electrocuted,” he added.

Accusing the owner of the mango orchard, Sanjay Mehta, and his henchmen to have killed his daughter, Safi claimed that blood stains were found in the mango orchard.

The incident took place at Teentikri village under Basmatiya police outpost along the Indo-Nepal border, 300 kms north-east of Patna.

Station house officer (SHO) of Basmatiya police station Sadanand Sah confirmed the injury marks on the victim’s body . “Only after we get the postmortem report can we ascertain the exact cause of death,” Sah added.

The SHO said the girl’s father had lodged a complaint against the orchard owner and his aide Vinod Mehta, who were absconding. He suspected that they had crossed over to Nepal.

Araria superintendent of police Sudhir Porika said, “We are trying to arrest the accused. We will definitely take action against the perpetrators of the crime.”