Body of Dammaiguda's missing girl found in lake, family suspects foul-play

HYDERABAD: The case of a missing fourth class girl student of the Dammaiguda ZPHS within the Jawahar Nagar police station limits ended on a tragic note on Friday after her body was found in a nearby lake. The mysterious death sparked suspicions of foul-play from the bereaved family members even as the police clarified that the body bore no external injuries.

The 10-year-old girl, identified as Indu, went missing after leaving the house for school on Thursday. The footage of a CCTV camera in the vicinity showed the girl walking towards the lake after leaving her bag at the school at around 9 am on Thursday. Based on a missing complaint from the girl's parents and the school principal, the local police launched a search operation on Thursday.

However, her body was found floating in the lake on Friday morning, sparking suspicions from her family of possible foul-play. The family members expressed apprehensions that the girl might have fallen victim at the hands of a local ganja-smoking gang that has notoriously made the lake-side its haven.

The police, who shifted the body for a post-mortem examination, have registered a case and are investigating. But with the family's suspicions adding a twist to the incident, the police had to come up with some quick clarifications. The family of the minor girl claimed that they, along with the police, searched several times near the lake on Thursday night but could not trace her.

They refused to see this as a case of accidental drowning since the body of the minor girl was not bloated, as it usually happens in similar instances. They expressed the fear that the girl could have been murdered and her body dumped in the lake past midnight. The family members also reportedly questioned the hurried manner in which the body was shifted by the police for a post-mortem examination without letting her father to closely examine it.

Following the family's apprehensions, Rachakonda Commissioner of Police Mahesh Bhagwat on Friday clarified that, as per primary information, the body bore no external injuries. He promised to disclose all the details as soon as the investigation was completed while observing that the report of the post-mortem examination would be able to establish the cause of the death.

Stating that the girl's grief-stricken family members were still not in a position to speak about the incident, he said that the clues report was also being verified even as the inquiry was going on.

On Friday evening, the girl's family damaged a police vehicle, demanding to show the post mortem report of the girl. On the other hand, the police said that there were no injuries found on the body and the report read that her lungs were filled with water.