The body of a 15-year-old girl, who had gone missing, has been found in mutilated condition in a field in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad district, police said.

The police suspect that the minor might have been sexually assaulted and strangled to death as her “dupatta” (stole) was tied around the neck.

The body has been sent for post-mortem examination and three teams have been set up to investigate the matter, a police officer said.

“The girl, aged 15, was missing since 2 p.m. on Friday, after she went to a field near the village to relieve herself. A farmer found her body in a mutilated condition on Saturday,” Superintendent of Police, Sarvesh Mishra, said.

He added that it appeared that the victim was assaulted, as she had bruises around the eyes and her mouth appeared to have been gagged.

Based on preliminary probe, a case under sections 302 (murder) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and sections 3 and 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act has been registered against unidentified people, Mishra said.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)