Juvenile held for rape, murder of 3-yr-old

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 13

The girl, whose body was found dumped in a forest near Colony No. 4 on April 11, was murdered by her 15-year-old neighbour, who wanted to settle a score with the victim’s father over a fight which took place on the eve of Holi. The victim was three years and nine months old.

The victim was raped before being strangled to death by the minor, a government school student who was arrested by the Chandigarh Police late this evening.

The victim was kidnapped while playing from outside her house at around 9 pm on April 10. Her body was found by residents of the colony the next morning from a nearby forest.

Parvinder Singh, ASP (East), said during the investigation, it came to light that the victim’s father and uncle had an argument with a cousin of the accused over some issue. “The juvenile intervened in the argument following which a fight ensued in which the accused got injured,” the ASP said.

The police official said in order to settle a score with the victim’s father and uncle, the juvenile, a native of Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh, started planning to kill both of them. “When the accused failed to execute his plan, in a fit of rage, he kidnapped the girl,” the police said.

On the day of the incident, the accused kidnapped the victim from outside the house and left for the forest. The victim was raped, strangled and dumped in the forest.

After dumping the body, the accused came back to his house in the colony.

The ASP said as revealed by a few colony residents, the juvenile was wearing a red T-shirt at the time of the incident. The police are investigating whether or not the juvenile was in an inebriated condition or under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident.

While a case under Sections 302 (murder) and 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) of the IPC was registered at the Industrial Area police station, Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender) and 376 (rape) of the IPC, and Section 6 of the POCSO (Protection of Child from Sexual Offences) Act were added.

Postmortem report confirms rape

The autopsy report of the victim confirmed rape. The report also mentioned serious injuries on her private parts, including a bite mark on her left thigh, rashes on her back suggesting unnatural offences, assault marks and strangulation marks.

Doctors have sent the viscera of the minor, vaginal swabs and DNA from the bite marks for analysis at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL).

BJP councillors meet SSP

BJP councillors, including Satish Kainth, Leader of the Opposition Arun Sood and Sat Parkash Aggarwal, today met SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill regarding the case under various sections, including attempt to murder and rioting, registered against Kainth, who is the area councilor. In a press note, the BJP accused the police of not taking prompt action, which led to resentment among residents of Colony No. 4, resulting in a clash between the police and colony residents.

The SSP said that the police would investigate the role of the BJP councillor in the incident of rioting.

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