The body of a 13-year-old girl, who was missing since April 15, was found in a mutilated condition near Jalalgarh market in the district late on Tuesday night.

Her parents suspected that she was raped before being murdered by criminals.

The deceased was a resident of Harishchandrapur village under Jalalgarh police station of the district. She was a Class IV student of a school in the village.

Police said though the girl was missing since April 15, her parents had neither approached police not filed any FIR.

“We have come to know that she left her home to attend Jiwachh mela, a popular fair in the village, on April 15, but did not return. Her parents had been trying to find her whereabouts from their relatives living in the village and adjoining areas. However, her body was found late last night,” an officer said.

On Wednesday, her father lodged an FIR against some unidentified criminals.

Deputy superintendent of police (rural) Satish Kumar told The Telegraph: “The victim’s father has in the FIR not named anybody as suspect/s. We have, however, registered a case of rape and murder. We are probing into the case. We expect a breakthrough within a couple of days.”

He added: “We handed the girl’s body to the bereaved family after conducting an autopsy at Purnea Sadar hospital today. Prima facie it appears that she was raped before being murdered. But to ascertain whether several criminals were involved in the incident or not, we have to wait for the autopsy report.”

The victim’s elder brother said: “The criminals killed her after raping her because they were scared of being recognised and arrested. There were stains of blood all over her body. It appears she was raped by a number of criminals. But only an autopsy can reveal what had exactly occurred.”

“We cannot raise our finger at anyone without knowing them. It would be unfair on our part to implicate anybody because there is nobody who has witnessed the incident.”

Sources said the victim perhaps knew the offenders. “Since the girl was murdered after being raped, it is possible that she might have recognised the criminals. There are chances that the criminals lived somewhere close to her residence. We do not even rule out the possibility of some close relatives of the victim being involved in the crime,” a source said.

Residents of the village said the venue of Jiwachh Fair is barely 2km from the victim’s residence. On Wednesday, traders at Jalalgarh market kept their shutters down for two hours from 11am in protest against the murder of the girl.