13-year-old Tribal girl crushed to death with stone after rape in Maharashtra's Jalgaon, accused held

Nashik: A 13-year-old tribal girl, returning home from a farm in Chopda taluka in Jalgaon district in Maharashtra, was dragged into a farm by a man and crushed to death with a stone, police said on Monday.

The accused Mukesh Barela, 21, native of Balwadi, Madhya Pradesh, was arrested and presented before a Maharashtra court on Sunday which sent him to police custody till September 13.

The victim was found disrobed in a cotton field with her face crushed in Virwada area of Chopda on Saturday, police said.

Following the incident, tribal people took out a protest march on Sunday in Chopda demanding death penalty for the suspect.

A case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was was registered against the suspect at the Chopda city police station.