15-year-old girl raped & killed; cops search for stepfather

A 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped and strangled to death here in Maharashtra and police are on the lookout for her stepfather who is suspected to have committed the crime, an official said on Friday.

The victim's body was discovered by her sister at their home in Dapodi in Pimpri Chinchwad, an industrial town near here, on Thursday evening, he said.

According to a complaint registered by the victim's mother, she and her husband, the teen's stepfather, had a heated argument over some domestic issue on Thursday morning.

The man allegedly threatened his wife and warned her of dire consequences following which she asked him to stay away from her daughters, the police said, quoting from the complaint.

"In the evening, the deceased's sister came home and found the door locked from outside. On breaking open the door, the 15-year-old girl was found dead," said an official from the Bhosari policestation.

Based on the complaint by the victim's mother, a case of murder was initially registered against the absconding accused, an autorickshaw driver, he said.

A post-mortem examination revealed the girl was strangled to death and also indicated that she "might" have been sexually assaulted, the official said.

"Upon receiving the report on Friday, we added section 376 (rape) of the IPC and other relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), he said.

A search is on for the accused, the official added.