A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered at Balwapad village in Nalanda district, around 80km southeast of Patna.

The victim’s half-naked body was recovered from a bush on the outskirts of the village, under the jurisdiction of Hilsa police station, on Saturday evening and sent to the Sadar hospital for post-mortem.

Preliminary investigation suggested that the girl was raped before her throat was slit with a sharp-edged weapon.

The police suspect that acid was poured on her face to hide her identity and mislead the investigation. Bloodstains were also found on the spot from where her body was recovered, an investigating officer said.

Nalanda superintendent of police (SP) Sidharth Mohan Jain said the victim’s relatives started looking for her after she did not return home from the field where she had gone to graze cattle. After a frantic search, she was found murdered in a bush, he said.

The SP said the autopsy report would confirm whether the girl was raped. “The post mortem-report is awaited,” he said, adding that raids had been launched to arrest the perpetrators of the crime. A co-villager of the deceased is supposedly involved in the incident.

“The weapon used for committing the crime has not been recovered,” said Jain.

He, however, refused to divulge the name of the suspects as that might hamper the investigation. “The prime suspect in the case is absconding,” the SP said, adding that the station house officer of the police station concerned had been asked to put the case on speedy trial after the arrest of the accused.

Hilsa inspector Shivaji Prasad has been asked to monitor the police operation.

Prasad visited the spot on Sunday and issued necessary instructions to the station house officer of Hilsa police station Rahul Kumar. “A special team has been formed to apprehend the culprits,” he said.

The incident has sent shock waves among the residents of the area, who thronged the police station on Sunday to demand quick arrest of the accused. They dispersed after the senior police officers assured them that the accused would be caught soon.