Girl was killed after failed rape attempt

JHAPA, Feb 6: The 13-year-old schoolgirl of Halidbari-4 found dead in a tea estate near her home was in fact murdered after an attempted rape, investigations have revealed.



Neighbor Mithun Rajbanshi, who was one of the two suspects nabbed by police on Saturday, admitted that he killed Sabitra Rajbanshi after she resisted his attempt to rape her. [break]



"He took her life after a failed rape attempt," Chief of Jhapa Police Tarini Prasad Lamsal said. "He tried to rape Sabitra who was collecting firewood while Mithun had gone to the estate to respond to nature´s call at around eight Thursday morning," Superintendent of Police (SP) Lamsal elaborated.



Mithun strangled the seventh grader to death as she cried for help after he tried to force himself on her, SP Lamsal revealed. Mithun also received a small cut on his ear from Sabitra´s sickle during the scuffle with the girl. The postmortem report had confirmed that she was not raped.



The tea estate where Sabitra was found dead is about 250 meters north of her home, a hut provided by the tea estate owned by one Mohan Parajuli. Her father Kelisingh and mother Surji work at the tea estate.

Related story

Police constable arrested for “attempt to rape”