6-yr-old girl’s face smashed, drowned in water tank after failed rape attempt

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A six-year-old girl's face was smashed with a stone and later drowned in a water tank to hide her identity after a failed rape attempt in Uttar Pradesh's Agra, police said on Monday.

Police has arrested a 43-year-old private watchman who had been hired to guard the crops from stray cattle on charges of killing the girl.

According to police, watchman Rajveer Singh first tried to rape the girl, and when he didn't succeed, drowned her in a water tank in a field, newswire PTI reported.

"On December 30, the body of a six-year-old girl was found in a field in a village under the jurisdiction of the Etmadpur Police Station in Agra district.

"As per the complaint of the father, an FIR was registered in the case under section 302 of Indian Penal Code at Etmadpur Police Station in Agra district," Deputy Commissioner of Police (City) Suraj Kumar Rai told reporters.

The officer said that Rajveer Singh for a while pretended to help the villagers locate the girl, but it emerged that he was the last one to have been seen with the girl around 2 pm, so he was detained.

"During interrogation, Rajveer Singh confessed that he had caught the girl in the field and attempted to rape her. But she raised an alarm and foiled his attempt. So he drowned her in a water tank in the field and hit her with a sharp heavy stone on head," said Rai.

Rajveer Singh was arrested and further legal action is being taken against him, he added.

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Meanwhile, expelled BJP leader Kamal Rawat was arrested on Sunday for allegedly raping a minor girl, police said.

Police officer Yogesh Upadhyay said Rawat was arrested from Champawat late in the evening and he will be produced in a court Monday.

The Congress burnt the effigy of the BJP government over the issue.

The police had registered a case against Rawat under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The victim underwent a medical examination on Saturday but her statement could not be recorded in the court.

The BJP's Champawat District President Nirmal Mehra said Rawat has been expelled from the party. (With inputs from PTI)