MUMBAI: A six-year-old girl who went missing from Nalasopara East on Monday morning was found dead in a nearby well the next day, police said.
The girl, identified as Zoya Khan, lived in Dhaniv Bagh. According to police, she was at home with her 12-year-old brother on Monday morning after their mother left for work around 8.30am. Police said Zoya later went out to play but did not return. When the mother returned later in the day, she was informed that the child was missing.
After a brief search, the family lodged a complaint at Pelhar police station, following which a kidnapping case against an unidentified person was registered.
During a search operation on Tuesday, her body was discovered in a well inside Omni Compound, located close to her residence. Police sent the body for postmortem to determine the cause of death.
“After we receive the (postmortem) report, it will be clear whether Zoya had been killed and whether she was sexually assaulted,” said Bajrang Desai, assistant commissioner of police of Virar division,.
The girl’s family alleged that police initially delayed action. “The police told us that they had Holi bandobast duty and ignored our complaint for hours before launching the search,” said Ayesha, 18, Zoya’s sister. Police denied the charge, claiming the search operation began soon after the complaint was registered.