Mysuru, Oct. 9 (RK&KS)- Close on the heels of a man being brutally hacked to death by a gang of six near Dasara Exhibition Grounds on Oct. 7, Mysuru city woke up to yet another horrific crime this morning.

The body of a minor girl, suspected to have been raped and murdered, was found inside a drain near Exhibition Grounds at Ittigegud. The victim, who had come from Kalaburagi along with her parents and relatives to sell balloons and toys during Dasara, was living with them in a makeshift tent pitched in an open area opposite the Expo.

According to her relatives, the girl had slept beside her parents last night, but when they woke up early today following heavy rains, they found her missing and began a frantic search. Their worst fears were confirmed when passersby and Police informed them that the body of a girl was found in a nearby drain. On rushing to the spot, they identified the body as that of their missing daughter.

Sexual assault, stabs: Passersby who noticed the body immediately alerted the Nazarbad Police. Inspector Mahadevaswamy and his team rushed to the spot, conducted a mahazar, registered a case and shifted the body to the MMC&RI mortuary for post-mortem.

Preliminary investigation suggests that the girl may have been sexually assaulted and brutally stabbed multiple times, including on her private parts, before the body was dumped in the drain. Police suspect the accused may have committed the crime under the influence of narcotic substances.

City Police Commissioner Seema Latkar, DCP (Law and Order) R.N. Bindu Mani, DCP (Crime and Traffic) K.S. Sundar Raj and Devaraja Sub-Division ACP Rajendra visited the scene and conducted a spot inspection.

The Fingerprint Unit and Dog Squad were summoned, and forensic samples have been collected for analysis by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to confirm whether sexual assault occurred before the murder.

The gruesome crime has triggered shockwaves across Mysuru, coming just two days after a daylight murder near the same location.

It is learnt that over 50 members of the Hakki-Pikki community from Kalaburagi had arrived in Mysuru to engage in balloon and toy trade for Dasara.

The families have set up a temporary shelter near the Doddakere Maidan and were selling balloons and toys across popular locations.

Last night, after wrapping up business around midnight, the victim’s eight-member family rested at their make-shift shelter, and the girl was found missing from 4 am.

Is Police patrolling effective?

Following the broad daylight murder of a man near the Dasara Exhibition Grounds on Tuesday, the City Police had intensified night patrolling in their respective jurisdictions. Yet, despite these measures, the brutal murder of the minor girl after being allegedly sexually assaulted has taken place — and alarmingly, at a spot close to where the earlier killing occurred.

The drain where the girl’s body was discovered lies near some of Mysuru’s most prominent landmarks — the Dasara Exhibition Grounds, Mysore Palace, Mysuru Zoo and the City Police Commissioner’s Office — an area that sees constant public movement and heavy vehicular traffic.

Despite this, the crime went undetected through the night, raising serious questions over the effectiveness of night patrolling by the jurisdictional Nazarbad Police.

Public anger has been mounting, with many alleging that the latest incident exposes grave lapses in policing and safety enforcement in city.