Amaravati, July 16 : A class 8th girl student was found dead under suspicious circumstances in a house in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district.





The 13-year-old student, who had not returned home from school on Monday, was found dead in the house of a gas delivery boy.



The incident took place in Kothareddipalem village of Chebrolu mandal of Guntur district.



On a complaint by the victim's family, police launched the hunt for Nagaraju, working as a delivery boy at a gas agency.



Shailaja along with her elder brother had gone to school on Monday. The boy alone returned home. When enquired with the school teacher, he was told that Shailaja returned home early as she was not feeling well.



Anxious mother and brother started searching for Shailaja. The girl's brother found her footwear near the locked house of the gas delivery boy. He peeped through the window to find her lying on the bed. Alerted by the boy, the family members broke open the door to bring her out.



Police shifted her to the Government General Hospital at Guntur, where doctors pronounced her dead.



Police said that they shifted the victim's body for autopsy. The victim's family members found an injury mark on her neck and they suspect that she was murdered. Police said the autopsy report will confirm if she was sexually assaulted.



The victim's relatives gathered at the hospital and demanded stringent action against the guilty. Police said that have formed teams to nab Nagaraju, who was living alone.



This is the third major crime in Andhra Pradesh in less than two weeks.



On July 7, three minor boys allegedly gang-raped the nine-year-old girl and then pushed her into a canal in Nandyal district.



In another incident, a six-month-old girl was sexually assaulted by a 45-year-old man in Vizianagaram.



Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha on Monday announced that the state government has decided to constitute a special trial court for two rape offences.



The government also announced exgratia of Rs10 lakh for the family of the rape and murder victim in Nandyal district and Rs 5 lakh for the infant in Vizianagaram district incident.



/IANS