A 12-year-old physically challenged girl, missing for the last about a week, was found murdered for resisting rape attempt.

The incident took place in Bulandshahr and the nude body of the girl was found buried in a pit inside a villager's home along with her half-burnt clothes, on Tuesday.

The accused was arrested by the police from Shimla on Wednesday and he confessed to strangulating the girl to death for resisting rape attempt. He also revealed that he had buried the body to conceal the crime.

The Bulandshahr cops, who arrested the accused, said the girl was working in a field on the evening of February 25 along with her family when she felt thirsty and went home for water. On February 28, the girl's parents filed a missing person's complaint.

The girl was working in the field with her mother and two sisters, about 100 metre from the house where her body was recovered, Bulandshahr district police chief Santosh Kumar Singh told reporters.

The victim left for home and when she did not return her sisters called out for her but there was no response. The family members assumed she had gone home and went back to work in the field. However, hours later when they did not find her there, they started searching for her, Singh added.

As per a media report, later in the evening, the family suspected the hands of a local resident in the disappearance of the girl and went to his home but found him badly drunk so they returned.

The search operation was on for two-three days before the family went to the police on February 28, the police officer said.

The victim was traced during the search operation when people found a spot inside a house where it seemed a fresh pit had been dug. The victim's frock was also found lying half-burnt. When the pit was dug, the cops found the girl's body.

The district police chief said the house from where the girl's body was recovered belonged to a father-son duo. The father was taken in custody as the son was absconding. Later, on the clues collected from the father, the main accused was arrested on Wednesday. 

In another sensational incident in Bulandshahr, a man murdered his wife and two daughters with a hammer while critically injuring another daughter in Shikarpur area, police said on Wednesday.

Senior Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar said that Sayeed, a resident of Ambedkarnagar on Barakhamba Road in the Shikarpur town, suspected that his wife had illicit relations and the couple used to have frequent fights over this issue.

They had a fight over the same issue on Tuesday night during which Sayeed attacked his wife and three daughters with a hammer. All four were critically injured and were taken to hospital. However, his wife and two daughters were pronounced dead by the doctor.

The third daughter was still in a critical condition.

A manhunt is on to nab the accused.

In Banda, a 70-year-old man was held for raping an 8-year-old Dalit girl.

According to Circle Officer of Baberu, Siyaram, on Tuesday evening, they received information that a Dalit girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour, Jagdish Pal aka Muchchad.

The girl was playing outside her house when the incident took place.

Siyaram said that they arrested the accused and sent the girl for medical examination.