A 6-year-old girl missing since Saturday afternoon was found raped & murdered on the terrace of a mosque in Muradnagar, Ghaziabad  district of UP, on Sunday morning, Hindustan Times has reported. The girl’s family has accused the local councillor Haji Aizaz and his three brothers of targeting the child due to a long-standing feud between the families.

“My daughter and my younger son had gone to a local market to buy fruit juice on Saturday afternoon. While my son returned home, my daughter did not. In the footage from the CCTV camera installed in the colony, she is seen walking away from the house but the camera could not capture any more of her movements. We searched for her everywhere, including in the mosque, until 3am on Sunday. But she could not be traced. In the meantime, we also complained to the police,” the girl’s father Zahid Beg said.

He said her body was spotted by people offering namaz at the mosque around 5.45am on Sunday.

“We were offering namaz and heard some monkeys jumping on the roof. Some people went upstairs to drive them away and one of them spotted her legs sticking out. He called others. I also ran upstairs and found that it was my daughter. We have long-standing enmity with our neighbours and suspect their involvement. We have told the police about that as well,” he said.

The family complained to the police, who then lodged an FIR for kidnapping against unidentified persons on Saturday night. However, after the discovery of the body, which bore injury marks on the face and legs, her family has alleged the involvement of their neighbours, including the local councillor. After the body was found, police added Section 302 (murder) to the FIR and named Haji Aizaz and his elder brothers, Naushad, Afzal and Izhaar, as accused on a complaint by the father.

“The autopsy report confirmed that there was sexual assault and she died of strangulation,” Vaibhav Krishna, senior superintendent of police (SSP), said.

Aizaz is the sitting councillor of ward number 25 of Muradnagar municipality. Sources said one of the girl’s distant relatives had unsuccessfully contested against Aizaz in the urban local body elections last year.

“Aizaz and his brothers were miffed against our family because we never voted for him. There is a political enmity between our families. Three months ago, his sons had thrashed a cousin of mine over a minor quarrel following a spat on WhatsApp. A case had been registered against them,” the father said.

Aizaz and his brothers have been absconding ever since a complaint was lodged against them. Their house was found locked on Sunday. The main entrance to the mosque, where the body was found, opens directly opposite Aizaz’s house into an alley. The girl’s house is located a few metres further down.