PATNA, Oct. 4 -- The half-naked body of a 13-year-old girl, suspected to have been murdered after rape, was found from a pond in Begusarai district on Friday morning, police said. Police further said that the incident occurred under the jurisdiction of Cheria Bariyarpur police station of the district. Police said that the girl's body was discovered in a pond behind the marriage hall of former JD(U) minister Manju Verma. The family alleges that the girl was raped in the marriage hall, murdered and her body thrown into the pond. The family protested by placing the girl's body outside the former minister's house. Following the incident, a huge mob gathered outside the former minister's residence, ransacked the premises and damaged vehicles parked outside. On getting information, a police contingent arrived at the spot and pacified the crowd. After two hours of persuasion, the angry mob finally dispersed from Verma's house. The victim's grandmother said, "I was going to see the Durga idol immersion fair late on Thursday evening. She followed me. After that, we lost each other. We searched for her all night. In the morning, her body was found in the pond. She had no clothes on her body. Something wrong was done with her." She added that the girl's father, a disabled man, earns his livelihood by driving an e-rickshaw. When police reached the scene, the crowd prevented them from retrieving the body, demanding that the Superintendent of Police (SP) visit the site. The people insisted on summoning a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team and a dog squad, refusing to allow the body's removal until higher authorities intervened. Subsequently, Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Manjhaul Naveen Kumar arrived and tried to pacify the mob but failed to fully control the situation. Begusarai Superintendent of Police (SP) Maneesh Kumar later constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the SDPO to probe the case. Police have not ruled out the possibility of sexual assault. "We have shifted the body to the Sadar Hospital for postmortem. A medical board has been directed to examine whether she was subjected to sexual abuse. So far, we have registered a murder case. Prima facie, it appears the victim was killed somewhere else and her body abandoned here," said the SP. He added that crime experts had inspected the site and found no signs of struggle where the body was recovered. "We cannot rule out sexual assault. Let the postmortem report come," the SP said....