An 11-year-old girl was found dead near Vellore on Tuesday (Dec 16) and is suspected to have been murdered after being raped by unidentified persons, police said. The girl, a sixth standard student at a government school and a resident of Kalyana Periyankuppam village, did not return home after going to school yesterday, they said. Residents found her body in a mangrove and alerted the police. A senior police official said the body bore strangulation marks besides knife injuries, suggesting that the child could have been murdered. The body has been sent to Vellore Government Medical College Hospital for autopsy. The autopsy would confirm whether it is a case of rape and murder, the police official said.