Sacrifice of schoolgirl suspected

Passersby stumbled on the body behind a mosque in Magadi, a town in Ramanagaram district, on Friday afternoon.

Investigators found a lemon cut in half, a lock of hair and her footwear. She was gagged with polythene, and her limbs were tied with cloth. She was wearing her brother Gulab’s shirt, with his school’s name ‘Vasavi’ embroidered on it, a policeman said.

Ayesha was the daughter of Mohammad Noorullah and Jameela Bano, who live near New Masjid. The couple run a small shop. Ayesha was a student of Winners School.

She was last seen walking towards her parents’ shop on Wednesday at 9 pm. After looking for her all night, her worried parents approached the Magadi police, who took up a case of kidnap and began investigation.

Meanwhile, around 3 pm, passersby spotted a blood-stained gunny bag behind the mosque. When they took a closer look, they were aghast to find a girl’s body.

Hundreds of people gathered as the news spread. Police secured the crime scene and called forensic experts and the dog squad. IGP Seemanth Kumar Singh and his men rushed to the spot.

Ayesha’s relatives told the police she could have been sexually assaulted. The assailants killed her to silence her, they suspect. On Friday, Ayesha’s body was shifted to Rajarajeshwari Hospital on Mysore Road for post-mortem.

“We see no cuts or injuries on the body. Only after the post-mortem will we be able to ascertain if she was sexually assaulted,” said Ramesh Banot, Superintendent of Police, Ramanagaram. Magadi Town police have registered a case of murder.