Ranchi: The body of a 16-year-old girl was found hanging from a tree in Lalmati forest of Palamu district of Jharkhand on Wednesday. The minor girl, a resident of Budhbar village in Panki police station area, was the daughter of a BJP functionary of Panki Mandal and a class 10 student. Police said the accused smashed her right eye and hung her body from a tree before killing her. Her body was cremated at the local crematorium on Wednesday evening. She was the eldest of the BJP leader's five children.

Police have found a mobile phone from the spot in preliminary investigation. Based on the call record of the mobile phone, 23-year-old accused Pradeep Kumar Singh Dhanuk has been arrested. Dhanuk is married. According to police, many connections have been found with him in the crime. The family of the deceased girl said that she left home at 10 am on June 7, 2021 but did not return. SI Ashok Kumar of Panki police station said that the victim's family had complained about the girl's disappearance on Tuesday (June 8, 2021). Police then launched a search for her and found her body hanging from a tree in a forest near the village on Wednesday.

The girl's right eye was protruded. Police officials have feared that the killers may have brutally killed her and then hung her body from a tree to show her self-immolation. The girl's family members have also alleged that she was raped.

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