Protests in Jharkhand after headless body of teenager found
Mob attacks convoy of chief minister demanding immediate action
Patna: The police have announced a reward of Rs25,000 for information leading to the arrest of culprits after the beheaded body of a girl was found in Jharkhand.
Villagers informed the police in the Ormanjhi area on Monday after they found the headless, nude body of a girl. On reaching the spot, police made enquiries and sent the body for autopsy. The police also found a few empty bottles and a makeshift oven to cook food from the spot.
Soon after recovering the body, the police launched extensive searches for the missing head. According to the police, the culprits may have fled with the head to destroy the evidence. The police have not yet identified the girl.
“We are yet to get clues about the girl. We are going through the records of the missing girls at the police stations and at the same time have announced a reward of Rs25,000 to anyone who provides information about the culprits,” Ormanjhi police station in-charge Shyam Kishore Mahto told the media on Tuesday. He said the police were working overtime to complete the investigation.
The police have issued three separate cell phone numbers and WhatsApp numbers to get information about the culprits. The police have also assured that the names and addresses of the informants would be kept secret for security reasons.
“Whether she was sexually assaulted or not will be ascertained after post-mortem. Prime facie it seems the body was dumped at the said spot after murder at some other place,” Ranchi’s rural superintendent of police Naudhad Alam told the media.
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) drew parallels to the 2012 Delhi Nirbhaya case. “The incident is more gruesome than the Nirbhaya case and highlights the failure of the state government,” former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi alleged. “This is not a normal incident. The fact is that girls are not safe in the state and the chief minister should act fast and seriously,” he said.
The incident triggered strong protests in the area and on Monday evening angry protesters attacked the convoy of Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren. The windows of several cars that were part of the convoy were smashed by the protesters, prompting the security forces to use force to control the mob.