A 14-year-old differently-abled girl, Khushi, was found murdered near the railway tracks at the Bhadrapura village’s Hakki-Pikki Colony in Ramanagara taluk at the outskirts of Bengaluru.
According to her mother, Khushi was deaf and mute and had lost her father; she lived with her other siblings and mother and was put up at a residential school at the outskirts of the city. She had come to her house for the summer holidays, the police said.
According to the victim’s mother, she was playing outside her house as usual but went missing after 5 pm on Tuesday evening. Her family initially thought she might return by night, but when she didn’t, relatives along with her mother began searching for her.
The next morning, her body was found near the railway tracks, with injuries indicating she was brutally attacked and her body dumped near the tracks.
Locals suspected sexual assault followed by murder and have expressed deep anger and sorrow. Protests erupted in the village, with residents demanding justice and a proper investigation by the police.
The villagers pointed out that the area is poorly lit, lacks basic infrastructure, and is frequented by drug users and miscreants.
Locals suspect that the girl was dragged into the darkness near the railway tracks, assaulted, and then murdered.
Residents have demanded justice for the victim and improved infrastructure, including street lighting and a stronger police presence and patrols in the area.
The Bidadi rural police station has registered a case and is investigating.
Dog Squad and Fingerprint experts visited the crime scene for investigation and have collected samples that they have sent to the FSL.
The incident has sparked fear and outrage across the region.
According to the police, the post-mortem report that is expected this weekend will confirm whether the victim was sexually assaulted or not before or after the murder.
Police have formed teams and have launched a manhunt to trace and arrest the accused.
Bengaluru Rural Ramanagara SP Srinivas Gowda said that based on the complaint of her parent, we have registered a case of murder and are investigating. Preliminary investigation reveals there are no signs of sexual assault externally; however, with the PM report and the FSL report, if there is evidence of sexual assault, we will take it up then.”