Violence erupted in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh district on Wednesday after the villagers found a dead body of a 17-year-old girl who was allegedly gang raped and murdered by four men in the sugarcane fields.

The incident took place when the class 9 student was on her way to tuition on her bicycle. The four men allegedly dragged her to the sugarcane fields of Guru Sikran village and took turns to rape her. The men allegedly brutalised her and strangled her with her duppatta.

Another student rushed to the spot on hearing her screams and then informed the villagers about the incident. The accused, who came on two bikes, fled by the time villagers reached the fields, according to Hindustan Times.

When the police arrived at the crime scene, the villagers assaulted four policemen, including two inspectors and two constables, alleging that they were late. They even damaged a vehicle and prevented the police from taking the body of the victim to the hospital for post mortem.

Aligarh senior superintendent of police, J Ravinder Gaur, arrived at the site along with a large contingent of police to bring the situation under control. The police were then able to retrieve the body from the protesters. The body has been sent for post mortem.

"We received information that the dead body of a small girl has been found in the sugarcane fields. We came and investigated the areas, the body has been sent for examination. The reason for the girl's death will be clear after post-mortem," NDTV quoted Gaur as saying.

"The post mortem examination report will confirm whether or not the girl was raped," superintendent of police Sansar Singh told HT.

Police have registered a complaint against the four accused. However, no one has been arrested as yet. Gaur has formed four police teams to hunt down the culprits and has also announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for the person who will provide details of their whereabouts.