A six-year-old girl was drowned in a water tank and her head smashed with a stone to hide her identity after a failed rape bid, police said on Monday.

Police have arrested a 43-year-old private watchman who had been hired to guard the crops from stray cattle on charges of killing the girl.

According to police, watchman Rajveer Singh first tried to rape the girl, and when he didn't succeed, drowned her in a water tank in a field.

"On December 30, the body of a six-year-old girl was found in a field in a village under the jurisdiction of the Etmadpur Police Station in Agra district.

"As per the complaint of the father, an FIR was registered in the case under section 302 of IPC at Etmadpur Police Station in Agra district," Deputy Commissioner of Police (City) Suraj Kumar Rai told reporters.

The officer said that Rajveer Singh for a while pretended to help the villagers locate the girl, but it emerged that he was the last one to have been seen with the girl around 2 pm, so he was detained.

"During interrogation, Rajveer Singh confessed that he had caught the girl in the field and attempted to rape her. But she raised an alarm and foiled his attempt. So he drowned her in a water tank in the field and hit her with a sharp heavy stone on head," said Rai.

Rajveer Singh was arrested and further legal action is being taken against him, he added.

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