Locals picketed Kaski District Police Office in Pokhara on Wednesday afternoon demanding stern action against the perpetrator of rape and murder of 10-year-old girl.

Police on Tuesday night had arrested Kusum Paudel, 27, in connection to the rape and murder of Shriya Sunar of Pumdibhumdi, Pokhara-22.

A large number of people mostly women took to the street in protest against the incident when the police were preparing to organise a press meet to parade the accused. The press meet didn’t happen due to the protest.

The demonstrators are exerting pressure on the administration to bring the accused out of the police custody.Though police had arrested five persons for interrogation, Paudel admitted to have committed the crime under the influence of alcohol and marijuana.

It has been learnt that Paudel, during police interrogation, conceded that he raped and murdered the girl after she refused to have sex with him.

The District Police Office, Kaski, however, said that the official information regarding the incident would be made public by organising a press conference today.

DSP Rabindra Man Gurung, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Kaski, said the culprit has already been arrested. “It is the success of Kaski police to find out the culprit within 24 hours of the incident,” he said.

Police had deployed sniffer dogs to find out the murderer after a body was recovered on Tuesday morning.

Shriya’s maternal uncle’s house and Paudel’s house are about 100 metre away.

The victim, who had been staying at her maternal uncle’s house in Pumdibhumdi, went missing since she left for a nearby shop to buy biscuits at around 5:30 pm on Monday.