Bengaluru: In a suspected case of black magic, the dead body of a missing 10-year-old girl was found in a canal, near Hosahalli road in Magadi, near here, on Friday.

The victim Ayesha B, a class four student and a resident of Sunakal village in Magadi taluk, in Ramanagar district had gone missing since Wednesday, March 1 while she was playing outside her home at around 8 pm. After an overnight search ended in vain, her parents filed a case at the Magadi police station.

Nearly three days into the incident a passerby spotted floating body of Ayesha and alerted Magadi police.

Suspicions are being raised that Ayesha may have been a victim of black magic rituals since the assailants had slit her throat and also a lemon was found tied to her leg when her body was floating in the canal, according to eyewitnesses.

Meanwhile the possibility of an insider involvement in the crime is not being ruled out since initial police investigations have revealed that the family had a property dispute with relatives. The police have formed a special investigating team to probe the case