3 min readPatnaMar 15, 2026 02:11 PM IST
A teenage girl in Bihar’s Saran district drowned after she was allegedly pushed into a well by a man who claimed to have been “friends with the victim through Instagram”, police said.
The main accused, Yuvraj Manjhi, and four others have been booked in the case. Manjhi has been arrested.
Police said that Manjhi confessed to having been at the scene of the crime and to having befriended the girl on social media. According to officers, the postmortem report said the cause of death was asphyxia due to drowning. On allegations that the girl was raped before being killed, police said there is no evidence of this.
The accused were booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, as well as BNS sections 96/26 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 103(1) (murder), 70(2) (abetment of suicide), 238 (destroying or concealing evidence to screen offender), 351(2) (assault or use of criminal force), and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy).
The murder took place on March 11. Police found the minor girl’s body in a well near a deserted and dilapidated house. Local residents said there was little chance of the girl going to this abandoned well on her own to fetch water, and raised the suspicion that she may have been pushed into it.
Subsequently, the body was taken to the district hospital in Saran for a postmortem, and an inquest was ordered.
On March 12, the girl’s mother lodged a police complaint, alleging foul play in her daughter’s death. An FIR was registered on the basis of this complaint against the five men. Later, the main accused, Manjhi, was arrested.
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Sub-Divisional Police Officer Pritish Kumar said in a press statement, “During interrogation, the accused admitted his presence at the incident spot and knowing the deceased. The main accused, Yuvraj Manjhi, said he had become friends with the victim through Instagram.” Police said they were investigating all possible angles in the case.
The girl’s mother said, “The man had been stalking and harassing my daughter for a while. It is a case of murder. We want justice.”
A local resident, who has become a key witness in the case, has claimed that he saw Manjhi pushing the girl into the well following an altercation.
Villagers also brought to the police’s attention Manjhi’s social media post in Bhojpuri, in which he allegedly said, “If I’m not able to marry you, I’ll finish off your family.”
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The postmortem report, released on March 14, put the cause of death as “death was due to asphyxia due to drowning”. The report found “no external injury” and also ruled out sexual assault, police said.
