9-year-old girl sexually assaulted, murdered in Pune; neighbour held

A man allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered a nine-year-old girl living in his neighbourhood in Maharashtra's Pune district, police said on Wednesday.

The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon at Pimpalwandi village in Junnar tehsil, they said, adding that the 25-year-old accused, a daily wager, has been taken into custody.

Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar called the incident "extremely shocking and unfortunate" and directed the police to conduct a thorough probe and ensure stringent action against the culprit.

Pawar said she would urge Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to have the case tried in a fast-track court.

Pune Rural Superintendent of Police (SP) Sandip Gill said the accused and the victim knew each other.

"Both the accused and victim lived in the same neighbourhood and belonged to the same community," he said.

The man went to the girl's house in the afternoon while she was watching television and lured her away on the pretext of offering her a guava. He allegedly took the girl to a farm nearby, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her and later killed her, Gill said.

When the girl was not found in the evening, her family searched for her and lodged a missing complaint.

"During the probe and analysis of the CCTV footage, it was found that the girl was with the accused. Subsequently, the accused was detained. During interrogation, he confessed and showed us the (crime) spot in the sugarcane field," the official said.

The body was later recovered and sent for an autopsy.

"A case has been registered, and the accused taken into custody. Further investigation is under way," Gill added.

Deputy CM Pawar assured strict action against the culprit. She spoke to SP Gill over the phone and reviewed the investigation. She directed the police administration to conduct a transparent and thorough probe and ensure stringent action against the accused.