MAHENDRANAGAR, DHANUSHA: A 12-year-old girl was raped and murdered by a tenant living in her home here in Dhanusha district on Tuesday.

The deceased has been identified as Bibika Kumari Saha, daughter of Krishna Dev Saha of Musahar settlement in Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City-1.

The rape and murder suspect has been identified as Ram Chandra Mahato Nuniya (40), the permanent resident of Baheda Bela area of Mukhiyapatti Musaharmaniya Rural Municipality-5 in the district. He had been living as a tenant in the house belonging to Saha along with his family for three years.

The victim Saha had been living with her mother Bimala Devi Saha, nine-year-old sister Pushpa and a two-year-old brother. Her father, Krishna Dev, had died in the past.

Nuniya allegedly raped Saha and then murdered her at 4:00 pm yesterday, according to the District Police Office, Dhanusha. The heinous crime took place when Saha's mother was away in the market for shopping.

When Nuniya found the two sisters alone at home, he asked the younger sister to buy something from a shop.

Recounting the incident, the younger sister said she heard scream of her elder sister when she reached the main entrance of the house while returning from the shop. "I tried to push open the door and banged on it, and shouted asking it be opened, but it did not open and after a while the cries from my sister stopped," she said.

The younger sister's shout had gathered the neighbours at the front entrance and her mother had also arrived from the market. When everyone tried to break down the door, the accused Nuniya had opened it himself.

The neighbours together with mother Saha searched for the older daughter in Nuniya's room. His reluctance to open a steel trunk aroused suspicion. Subsequently, the victim's body was found in the trunk wrapped in a bed sheet.

Following an inquest at the site, police have sent the victim's body to Janakpur Zonal Hospital for an autopsy. The authorities have arrested the suspect Nuniya and his wife Pabita.

Police suspected that the girl was strangled to death after rape.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the incident is underway, the DPO informed.