Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Police is now investigating a human trafficking angle in the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in Surat after the body of an adult woman, believed to be the girl’s mother, was also recovered four days after the first body was found.
Police have arrested three persons in connection with the rape-murder of the minor girl whose body was recovered on April 6.
Gujarat Home Minister Pradipsinh Jadeja on Friday announced that three men, including the main suspect Harsahay Gurjar, have been arrested. Gurjar and was picked up from Gangapur in Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan.
According to sources, these men “bought” the minor girl from Rajasthan for Rs 30,000.
In a new twist to the case, the state home minister on Friday said that the police have gathered adequate leads to believe that the three men not only raped and murdered the 11-year-old girl, but killed her mother as well. The dead body of an unidentified woman was recovered from Surat soon after the rape-murder incident was detected.
The woman was reported missing about 20 days ago and her body was recovered about four days after the minor girl's body was recovered. Investigation have revealed that she is the girl's mother.
Speaking to the media, Jadeja said, "This case has shaken the collective conscience of the people of Gujarat. It was indeed very complicated. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
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Earlier this week, a man from Andhra Pradesh approached the Surat police claiming that the girl, whose dead body was recovered, was his daughter. The police collected his DNA samples and sent them to the forensic lab for matching.
Apart from the Surat Police and Surat Crime Branch, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch, too, was roped in by the government to work on this case.
The police got its first leads from a black Chevrolet Spark car, which, according to police, was the car that the three had hired from Rajasthan.
Several questions are yet to be answered in investigations that are on while the motive behind the murder of the girl is yet to be decoded. Also, the police is looking to further probe the human trafficking angle and have sent samples of both the deceased girl and the woman, for DNA testing, to verify if the woman was indeed her mother.
Jadeja added that the state government will appoint a special public prosecutor and designate a special fast track court to ensure speedy trial and justice for the victim.
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