Grisly murder of a minor sparks off protest
BHAIRAHAWA: An eight-year-old Manisha Harijan of Maryadapur VDC Ward- 3 was found dead with her throat slit.
The body, which bore small bruises and blood stain on mouth and nose, was recovered from a water canal, according to Khinu Prasad Acharya, District Superintendent of Police. Acharya said the girl was murdered.
The grisly murder of the minor has left the entire village shocked and dazed.
The girl was missing since Thursday evening; at around 8 pm. The toddler was found dead today lying on her stomach in a water canal, 150 meters away from her house.
That fateful evening, Manisha, as usual, had gone to her grandfather's hut, some 100 meters away from her own house. She occasionally received food from the workers of G. M. Marka Brick Industry, located nearby. On Thursday evening too, she had eaten rice and milk given by them.
It came to light that after the meal, the child had apparently been taken away by factory workers, who promised her to drop her by her house. But as darkness fell, and hours passed by, Manisha never returned home.
Manisha's father Raju Harijan claimed that she was killed in the brick factory. He said he spotted blood in the kiln and other two places in the factory.
No sooner had the ghastly murder of the dalit girl spread like a wild fire in the village than hundreds of locals demonstrated, claiming that the girl was murdered in the factory. The locals said they would not rest unless the government booked the culprit and subjected to stringent action. Manisha was in grade 1, in local Maryadapur Secondary School. Meanwhile, police said, they have arrested six persons including Birendra Jaisawal, the proprietor of the industry, on charges of murder. Other arrested include: Naresh Harijan of Siloutiya-3, Kunkun Choudhari, Hridayalal Goud, Ramdhenu Sahani and Takeshwor Choudhari of Betia in India.