Kheda (Gujarat),  A middle-aged man slit the throat of a teenage girl in a marketplace in Gujarat's Kheda district, police said on Thursday.

The police have detained the man.

According to the complaint lodged by Dilip Patel, his 15-year-old daughter, Kripa, on Wednesday evening along with her friend had gone to get soft drinks from a nearby shop in the Traj village. When the accused, identified as Rajesh, approached her and without any provocation he attacked Kripa with a sharp weapon. First he slit her throat twice and then stabbed her in the chest, said the police.

Kripa was rushed in a critical condition to a government hospital, where the doctor's declared her dead.

Parents and family members are demanding capital punishment for the accused.

District Superintendent of Police Rajesh Gadhia, Deputy Superintendent of Police V.R. Vajpai and other officers rushed to the village and soon after picked up the accused.

He will be arrested after his corona report is negative, said police sub inspector H.M. Rabari, adding that the victim's post-mortem will be carried out by a panel of doctors on Thursday and after that body will be handed over to the family.

Matar Police Station officer said the murder section of the Indian Penal Code is invoked against the accused Rajesh Patel (42).

The reason for the attack was being investigated, police said.