7-yr old girl's mutilated body found, locals block road

Villagers blocked the road near Mathalput, which leads to Damanjodi, for several hours after the body was found yesterday, demanding immediate arrest of the culprits and adequate compensation to the family of the Class I student, who was suspected to have been killed by some sorcerer.

Police said the girl went to play with her friends after returning from school on Saturday. Her family lodged a missing person complaint at Damanjodi police station on Sunday after failing to locate her.

"The girl's tongue was slit and her body bore several burn scars, which indicate that she was killed by some sorcerer.We demand adequate compensation to the bereaved family," said one of the agitating villager.

"A team has been sent and we are probing from all angles. It could be a case of sorcery, but we can't conclude anything at this stage," SDPO (Sunabeda) V R Rao said today.