India, Feb. 22 -- A 13-year-old girl was found dead under suspicious circumstances in Rajasthan's Bikaner on Saturday, triggering protests by locals who alleged that the minor was raped, the police said.

Bikaner superintendent of police Kavendra Singh Sagar said the girl was a Class VIII student at a government school in Ranjeetpur, located about four kilometres from her home. "The incident took place at around 11.30am on Saturday when she was going to appear for her exam," he said.

However, around 12.30pm, the school authorities informed her parents that she had not reached the school. "Her parents and some locals immediately began searching for her and later recovered her body from a forest area close to a highway. The spot is barely ...