7-year-old girl raped, murdered in Haryana’s Palwal village

Chandigarh, May 26

A seven-year-old girl was allegedly raped and strangled to death by a 22-year-old youth in a village in Haryana’s Palwal district, police said, adding the accused has been arrested.

The incident occurred on Monday when the girl’s neighbour, Anand, lured her while her parents were not at home, took her to a nearby field and committed the crime, they said, adding he dumped the body in a pit.

When the girl’s parents returned home and didn’t find her, they lodged a missing complaint and her body was found.

During investigation, it was found that Anand was the only person in their locality to have skipped work on the day of the incident.

He was detained and subjected to “intense questioning”, during which he confessed to the crime, the police official said.

The girl’s parents are daily wagers, who hail from Madhya Pradesh, police said, adding the accused, a labourer, belongs to the same state, Station House Officer (SHO) Preetam Singh said.

A case was registered against him under Sections of rape and kidnapping of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant Sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act at Mundkati police station. — PTI