A man, who was arrested over the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Brahmanbaria's Nasirnagar upazila on December 2, has confessed to the crimes before a magistrate today, police said.

The accused, Dulal Mia, 29, is from Shankaradah village under Haripur union of the upazila.

Ashraful Alam, judge of the Senior Judicial Magistrate Court of Brahmanbaria, recorded Dulal's confessional statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure this afternoon, said Maksud Ahmed, officer-in-charge of Nasirnagar Police Station.

Later, the judge sent him to jail, the police official said.

Citing Dulal's statement, the OC said that the incident took place on the night of December 2. Dulal called the child, a class three student and his neighbour, to his home.

He then took her to a nearby abandoned house, raped her, and strangled her to death when she tried to scream.

Dulal told the court that he killed the girl, fearing that she would disclose the incident, said the OC.

The next morning, locals spotted the child's body and police was notified.

The same day, the victim's father filed a rape and murder case against unnamed suspects.

Later, teams from the Criminal Investigation Department, Police Bureau of Investigation, and Rapid Action Battalion began probing the killing.

Dulal was arrested on Thursday noon as his behaviour appeared suspicious in the aftermath of the incident, said the OC.

Sub-Inspector Mahbub Alam Sarkar, the investigation officer, said the child's body was sent to Brahmanbaria 250-bed General Hospital morgue for autopsy.