Ghaziabad: Ghaziabad police have arrested a 19-year old boy in connection with the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Muradnagar area of Ghaziabad. Police said that the accused kidnapped the girl on Saturday morning when she was playing outside her house while her body was found at a farm, a few meters away from her house on Sunday morning.
As per police, the arrested man was identified as Mahajan, who also resided in the same village as of victim. Cops said that the accused is a rickshaw puller and he told police that he strangled her throat with hands after raping her as he was afraid that the girl would reveal him to her family.
Victim's father told Millennium Post that he and his wife work as labour and had left house on Saturday morning while all the four children, three girls and a boy, were present at home.
"Me and my wife had left home around 10 am on Saturday while the kids were playing outside the house. When we returned home in the evening, we didn't find my younger daughter at home and went on a search. When we failed to trace her for the whole night we immediately informed police," said victim's father.
Cops said that they received information from a farmer who spotted the body lying in his farm while victim's father was called who identified her.
"Following the incident, police launched an investigation into the case while a few suspects were held for questioning. Upon sustained interrogations, the accused identified as Mahajan, spilled the beans and revealed the incident," said Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, Superintendent of Police (rural), Ghaziabad.
The officer further said that the accused strangled girl to death under the fear of getting exposed.
"The accused told police that he lives in victim's neighbourhood and lured the girl to a farm where he raped her. He then panicked that she would reveal about the incident to her parents and hence he strangled her to death," Jadaun said.
The accused dumped her body at a distance from the spot and she was found around 10 am on Sunday. The body was taken to a hospital where autopsy revealed that she was sexually assaulted.