Minor girl murdered, friend hurt

A seven-year-old girl was murdered while her teenage friend was injured when an unidentified man attacked them with a sharp weapon near Sundubare village in the district today, police said.
"The deceased has been identified as Rutuja Kusumkar, whereas the injured, Payal Jagtap (14) who too was attacked with sharp weapon, has been recuperating in hospital," said Ramdas Ingawale, senior Inspector, Talegaon MIDC police station.
The incident occurred when the girls, whose parents work in a brick kiln in the vicinity, had gone to answer nature's call in the nearby farms.
"At around 10 AM, an unidentified person allegedly attacked them with a sharp weapon and fled the spot," he said.

Ingawale said the girls who were lying in a pool of blood were spotted by some people working around and were rushed to hospital, however, Rutuja was declared dead on arrival.
"We have spoken to the injured girl, who had received injuries on her neck and got the information that they were attacked by a person, who was unknown to them, when they were on the way to answer the nature's call in the farms," the inspector said.
He ruled out any sexual assault, saying their investigation did not suggest any such thing.
"We are investigating the case from all the angles and trying to ascertain the motive behind murder," Ingawale added.