A nine-year-old girl was found dead in Chittagong city's Akbar Shah area on Sunday night, nearly four hours after she had gone missing from in front of her home.

Police suspected that criminals strangled Mim Akter, a second grader at a local girls madrasa, after raping her.

Victim's maternal uncle Kurban Ali said his niece came out of her house around 6:00pm on Sunday to play with her two friends. She went missing a little later.

“I searched for her in Colonel Hat area. At one stage, I was informed by locals that a body was found at a building near the Al Hera Jame Mosque. I rushed there and identified my niece's body.”

According to Kurban, the body was found around half a kilometre off the victim's house.

A tailor by profession, Mim's father Md Jamal lives in the area with his wife and two children. Kurban also stays with the family.

Utpal Barua, inspector (investigation) of Akbar Shah Police Station, said the body was recovered from the staircase of a six-storey building in Bishwa Bank Residential Area around 11:00pm.

There were injury marks on the victim's face and neck. Police detained the caretaker of the building for quizzing, he told The Daily Star.

No CCTV camera was installed in the building. Police were looking into how the victim went there, the inspector added.

Md Jahidur Rahman, constable of the Detective Branch of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) and also a resident of the area, said hearing the news, he went to the building and closed off the scene for collecting evidence. He informed Akbar Shah Police Station about the incident.

Police later sent the body to Chittagong Medical College morgue for an autopsy.

Meanwhile, locals brought out a procession in Akbar Shah area yesterday afternoon demanding immediate arrest of Mim's killers.