Muslim teenage girl killed after leaving Virginia mosque in US

In an apparent hate crime, a 17- year-old American Muslim girl was beaten and abducted after leaving a mosque in Virginia by a man and her body was later found dumped in a pond, authorities said on Monday. Police have arrested a 22-year-old, identified as Darwin Martinez Torres, and charged him with the girl's murder.

The girl, identified as Nabra Hussein of Reston, was walking back with friends after having an early morning Ramazan meal at a local 24-hour restaurant when a motorist in a car started shouting insults at them on Sunday. Hussein's friends ran to the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) mosque for safety but soon realised that their friend was missing, according to police and mosque officials. "All but one of the teens ran to the mosque, where the group reported that the girl had been left behind," according to Deputy Aleksandra Kowalski, a spokeswoman for the Loudoun County Sheriff s Office.

"Immediately thereafter, the ADAMS' personnel notified both Loudon County and Fairfax County authorities who immediately began an extensive search to locate the missing girl," the mosque said in a statement. After hours of searching, the police found Hussein's remains in a pond near Ridgetop Circle in Sterling, Virginia. "Our detectives are fairly certain that it is her," Tawny Wright, a spokeswoman for the Fairfax County Police Department said. "But the Chief Medical Examiner still needs to conduct an autopsy to confirm the identity."