Mumbai family finds body of girl who had been missing for days

The girl`s body was found in the room adjacent to a room her family lived in; the pamphlets that were put up by the family. Pics/ Hanif Patel

An 8-year-old girl who had gone missing on December 1 was found murdered inside a room adjacent to her home. The police said the girl's legs were tied up with a nylon rope and her body was stuffed in a nylon sack which was left in the room that was kept unlocked.

Roshni (name changed) was residing with his parents, two brothers and two sisters in the Vasai Phata area in Vasai. She was studying in the 3rd standard and she went missing around 5.30 pm on December 1 while she was playing outside her house with friends and went to purchase ice cream. At the time, her mother was in the village so she was living with her father and siblings. The family looked for her frantically but couldn't find her. They then printed thousands of pamphlets that were circulated in the area and also offered a reward of R20,000 to help find Roshni.

On Monday afternoon, her body started emitting a foul odour which spread in the area. This led her family to check the room where her body was found in a decomposed condition. According to the police, Roshni and her family lived in a rented room and the neighbouring room was vacant and had been left unlocked.

A police officer said, "Her feet were tied up with a nylon rope and her body was stuffed inside a nylon sack which is used for packing rice or flour. We suspect that the accused strangulated and killed her. We also found blood stains in the room which spread due to the body being decomposed."

Senior Inspector Vasant Labde of Pelhar police station said, "We have sent the body for a post-mortem. We suspected that the accused was known to the victim. We are checking CCTV footage and also interrogating suspected people. A murder case has been registered and we have started investigations."

Dec 1
Day the girl went missing