A man from Assam was arrested on Thursday on charges of raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl at Kongalapuram village near Sivakasi town of Tamil Nadu.

The girl, the daughter of a daily wager, went missing on Monday evening and her body was recovered from a bushy area half a kilometre from her house a day later.

Police said Majid Ali, aged about 20 years and a worker in a small scale industry, was among the six migrant workers detained on Wednesday for questioning in connection with the crime.

“During a sustained grilling by the police, he admitted to having committed the crime when the girl had come out for relieving herself. He had disposed of the body amidst the shrubs,” an investigating officer said.

The police initially suspected it to be a gang-rape but investigation revealed otherwise, he added.

The Class 3 student used to go to her father’s workplace after school and on Monday evening too she had gone there. She went missing after telling him that she was going to relieve herself.

Her father and other relatives started looking for her when she did not return after an hour. When they could not find her they lodged a complaint with the police.

They blocked a road demanding swift action by the police. Political parties and civil society organisations also staged demonstrations as the crime sent shockwaves in the region.

Police said the accused would be produced before a magistrate on Friday.