Arvind Kumar, 22, was arrested from Delhi on Thursday while his associates Vijayveer, 22, and Ram Avtar Yadav, 24, were arrested from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh the same day.

Arvind told police that his friend Vipin, who is from his village in Bareilly, had earlier lived in the victim's house for about a month and had developed intimacy with her.

"On Aug 10, the 15-year-old girl, resident of north Delhi's Burari, left her house with Vipin and stayed at Madhu Vihar till Aug 19. During this period, Arvind and Vipin had repeated sexual intercourse with her. Out of fear of getting embroiled in social and local issues, they pressurised her to return home, but she refused to go back," said Sindhu Pillai, deputy commissioner of police.

Pillai said that the accused then conspired to kill her.

On Aug 20, they took the girl to Bareilly, where they told Arvind's brother-in-law Vijayveer about their plan.

"Vijayveer and his friend Ram Avtar Yadav took them to Pachhua in Bareilly where they killed the girl after raping her in turns and dumped her semi-nude body in a canal," Pillai said.

The victim's body was recovered by local police Aug 27.

The accused have been sent to judicial custody and hunt is on for Vipin, the officer added.