Tripura: Prime accused in murder of four-and-half-year-old girl arrested

The prime accused in the murder of a four-and-half-year-old girl in Tripuras Khowai district has been arrested, police said on Thursday.The girl had gone missing on July 8 after her daily wager parents had gone out for work.

The prime accused in the murder of a four-and-half-year-old girl in Tripura's Khowai district has been arrested, police said on Thursday.

The girl had gone missing on July 8 after her daily wager parents had gone out for work. Her highly decomposed body was found in a rubber plantation near the accused's locality on July 12.

''The possibility of rape cannot be ruled out. At present, we are probing the murder case but charges of rape can be added later if evidence pointing towards it is found during the course of the investigation,'' Khowai Superintendent of Police Bhanupada Chakraborty said.

The 18-year-old accused was among several people who were picked up from the locality for questioning, and he confessed to murdering the girl during grilling, the police officer said.

Nilima Ghosh, the chairperson of the Tripura Commission for Protection of Child Rights, met Teliamura Sub-divisional Police Officer Sonacharan Jamatia on Wednesday and demanded capital punishment for the accused.

''The way the four-and-half-year-old girl was tortured to death, the accused deserves capital punishment,'' she told reporters.