Police have said 17-year-old Bhagrathi Bhatta of Baitadi was strangulated after death following rape.
Chief of the Far West Police DIG Uttam Subedi citing the autopsy report by Baitadi District Hospital said Bhatta from Dogdakedar rural municipality 7 was killed after rape. "Postmortem has showed strangulation after rape as the cause of death," DIG Subedi told Setopati.
He added that investigations are on to find out if it was a case of gang rape. "We have sent all the material evidence collected from the spot to the forensic laboratory for tests," he stated. "Investigation will become easier if the lab reports are available."
Bhatta was missing while returning home from Sanatan Dharma Secondary School in Shreekot of Dogdakedar Wednesday afternoon. The 12th grader had to cross Lovelek Community Forest to return home. Her body was found by students in a gorge in the middle of the forest at around 4 pm Thursday with her shirt torn off and her pants pulled down below the knee, and teeth marks all over the body.
Chief of Baitadi Police DSP is handling the case as an investigating officer while two separate teams led by SSP Janak Raj Pandey and a DSP of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) have also reached Baitadi to help in investigation.
