A 6-year-old girl was allegedly killed by a security guard of a poultry farm who then raped the child's corpse. The incident took place in a village in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand on Sunday. Police arrested the man after he confessed to committing the crime under the influence.

Local police said the girl went missing Friday when she was playing with other children near her home in Shyampur in Haridwar district. Officials said the accused lured the girl to a forest nearby where he committed the crime. The girl's parents, who were daily wage laborers, were working in a field when the incident took place.

Police launched an investigation after the girl's parents filed a missing report.

The investigation revealed that the accused tried to sexually assault the girl but when she began screaming, he strangled her to death. He then had sex with the corpse, police said. Local media NDTV reported that the accused was arrested soon after the girl's body was recovered Saturday morning. He was sent to 14 days of police custody.

The family of the girl claimed that a second person was also involved in the murder.

"Three days ago, the guard and another person got into a fight with us. We did not go to the fields for three days after that, but now they have committed this heinous crime. I don't know why no action is being taken against the co-accused," a relative of the victim told NDTV.

Police said Sunday that they were conducting an investigation to identify any other people were involved in the crime. Authorities are also awaiting autopsy result to determine the exact cause of death.

The accused was charged with murder, causing disappearance of evidence of offense and rape under the Indian penal code and the protection of children from sexual offenses (POSCO) Act, local newspaper the Times of India reported. Other details about the incident were not revealed.

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This is a representational image showing a handcuff. Getty Images/John Moore
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