The family of murdered Baitadi teenager Bhagarathi Bhatta has refused to receive her body even after the police have arrested her suspected murderer.

The girl’s family say they will not receive her body until they get the report of vaginal and mouth swabs sent to the National Forensic Science Laboratory in Kathmandu. They suspect that more persons could be involved in Bhagarathi’s murder besides the teenage boy whom police have identified as the suspected killer.

“We doubt that the boy alone committed the crime. We cannot fully trust the preliminary police investigation. We will receive the body only after the detailed medical reports have arrived,” said Keshav Bhatta, Bhagarathi’s brother.

Bhagarathi’s body has been kept at the District Hospital. Basanta Raj Joshi, chief at the hospital, said the body was decomposing as the hospital does not have a proper morgue facility.

The body of Bhagarathi was found in a forest at Chadepani of Dogadakedar Rural Municipality-7 in Baitadi district on February 4, a day after she went out of contact.

Police detained the teenage suspect from his residence on Tuesday night. He and Bhagarathi went to the same school and were distant relatives.

District Court Baitadi on Wednesday remanded the suspect to five days in judicial custody for further investigation.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Narayan Prasad Adhikari, the investigation is still not over.

“The investigation officers recovered the victim’s watch on Thursday on the basis of the suspect’s statement,” he said.

Meanwhile, the conflicting reports about the ages of the suspect and the victim have been resolved after their school’s records confirmed their ages to be 16 and 18 respectively. Baitadi police on Wednesday had mentioned that the suspect was 18 years old while the Nepal Police Headquarters stated that he was 16.

Likewise, a Nepal Police statement had said that Bhagarathi was 18 while her family members and documents put her age at 17.