Residents blocked the highway in Simara on Wednesday afternoon to protest the rape and murder of a four-year-old girl who had been missing for three days from Bhaktinagar in Jitpur Simara-1.

The protesters began blocking the Birgunj-Pathlaiya section of the Tribhuvan Highway at around 1pm, demanding the arrest and severe punishment of those responsible and relief for the victim’s family.

The girl, Garima Chaudhary, had gone missing from her home on Sunday. Her body was found on Tuesday evening. Police said she had been lured from her home with a chocolate and taken to an abandoned house nearby, where she was raped and killed.

The body remains at the Kalaiya Provincial Hospital. Her relatives had not initially come to claim it as they had yet to file a police complaint.

Garima was a student in the early childhood development class at the local Saraswati Primary School.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Min Bahadur Ghale, spokesperson for the Bara District Police Office, said police had confirmed that the girl was raped and murdered. He said those allegedly involved had been identified and arrested and that further investigation was underway.

Police have arrested Suman Thapa, 17, a helper on a local passenger minivan, and Progres Chaudhary, 24, the vehicle owner from Simara-1, among others in connection with the case, Ghale said.

He said a complaint had since been filed on behalf of the victim’s family and the process of handing over the body had begun.

The hospital administration, however, said the body was still at the hospital because it had not received the required letter and police complaint from the authorities to release it.