Kota (Rajasthan) October 31 (PTI) A 16-year-old girl who went missing from her home in a village in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district five days ago was found dead in a well near her house, police said on Tuesday.

Ranu Bheel, a resident of Khanpuria village in the Jhalrapatan area, was found in the well on Monday evening, they added.

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Based on the post-mortem conducted on Tuesday morning, the police suspected Bheel's death to be a suicide case, DSP Mukul Sharma said on Tuesday.

The deceased girl allegedly went missing from her home on October 27, following which her father lodged a police complaint on Sunday. A case was registered under Section 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code and police teams launched a search operation to trace the missing girl, Sharma said.

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The body of the girl was noticed floating in a well near her house on Monday evening, the DSP said.

On being informed, a police team reached the spot and recovered the body, he added.

The body was around 3 days old which suggested that the girl could have jumped into the well sometime after she had left home, the DSP said.

Prima facie, it appeared to be a case of suicide as the body did not bear any mark of injury or physical and sexual assault except bites by aquatic animals, he said, adding that further investigation was underway.

The body was handed over to Bheel's family members after the post-mortem, the police said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)