A murdered 9-year-old Vietnamese girl, whose body was recently found near a drainage ditch in Chiba Prefecture, was buried Monday at a cemetery in her hometown in northern Vietnam, with about 600 family and friends attending the funeral.

"I am feeling a bit calmer now that we have come to the place where my daughter will be laid to rest in peace," Le Anh Hao told reporters after the casket carrying the body of his daughter, Le Thi Nhat Linh, was escorted by relatives to the cemetery near her ancestral home in Hung Yen province.

"The suspect who committed the murder must be arrested soon," the father said, urging residents in the neighborhood in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, and others to provide police with any information they have regarding the case.

Linh was a third-grade elementary school student in Matsudo when she went missing on March 24 on her way to school, which was located approximately 600 meters from her home. Her naked body was found two days later near a river about 10 km from the school, leading police to believe she was abducted by someone immediately after she left home.

Her body was flown back to Vietnam with her parents and other family members on Sunday.