Police yesterday arrested a 37-year-old man for raping and murdering a seven-year-old girl in the CRB area of Chattogram city.

Police recovered the blood-stained body of Nasin Sukhi from a dustbin in BRTC Falmandi area on Monday night, said Atanu Chakraborty, assistant commissioner (Kotawali zone) of Chattogram Metropolitan Police.

From security camera footage of the area, police identified the suspect named Mir Hossen, a resident of the Bakalia area, and arrested him in less than 10 hours of finding the body, he added. 

The suspect, who has a shop of scrap metal, admitted to officers that he had raped the girl and then strangled her to death.

"The victim, Sukhi, was a homeless child. She and her mother used to beg people for money in the Andarkilla area. She went missing on Sunday night," Atanu told this correspondent.

"There were multiple injury marks on her body, and the nature of the injuries indicate that she was raped.

"The suspect said he picked up the victim by offering her candies late at night on Sunday and took her to a quiet place in the CRB area and raped her. He then killed her and left the body there. On Monday evening, he went back and put the body in a sack and left it in a dustbin," he added.

The suspect admitted that he had previously sexually abused homeless children, but was never caught.

Sukhi's mother filed a case with Kotwali Police Station.