The thirteen-year-old rape victim who was found dead at Bhimdutta Municipality in Kanchanpur was strangled to death, according to the police.

A post-mortem report showed that the victim was strangled to death after rape, said police. “The report has verified what we had suspected,” said District Police Office, Kanchanpur DSP Gyan Bahadur Sethi.

 However, the police are yet to ascertain if the crime was committed by a single individual or by a group.

“We are yet to identify the place of incident,” said DSP Sethi, “We are yet to ascertain the number of persons involved in the incident as the place where we found the victim’s body was inundated.”

The 13-year-old girl was raped and murdered at Nimbukheda of Bhimdatta Municipality-18 in Kanchanpur district on July 26.

The family had until July 29 refused to receive Nirmala’s body, which was kept at the Mahakali Zonal Hospital, demanding that the authorities arrest and prosecute the perpetrators first.

However, the District Administration Office, Kanchanpur, is accused of coercing the family into cremating the victim’s body in a low-key funeral that was guarded by police personnel on July 30.

Meanwhile, Mahendranagar bazaar and surrounding areas have remained tense following the incident with protests being organised almost on a daily basis to pressurise the authorities to take action against the perpetrators.