Man held for kidnapping, killing 7-year-old girl; body found

Mumbai, June 14

The police have arrested a man from Dongri in south Mumbai for allegedly kidnapping and killing a seven-year-old girl, who had gone missing in the last week of May, an official said on Sunday.

The accused Rizwan Shaikh (22), had murdered the girl and dumped her body along the railway tracks in Wadi Bandar area nearby, the official said, adding that the body was recovered on Sunday.

“The girl, a resident of Dongri area, had gone out to play around 9.30 pm on May 30. However, as she did not return home till late night, her family launched a search and later approached the Dongri police station,” he said.

Based on a complaint by her parents, police registered an offence of kidnapping against an unidentified person and launched a search.

“Shaikh, who works as a helper at a local bakery, was taken into custody over suspicion on Saturday. During his interrogation, Shaikh admitted that he had killed the minor and later dumped her body nearby. Accordingly, her body was recovered from Tambakhu Galli in Wadi Bandar area near the railway tracks,” he added.

Shaikh was arrested under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 363 (kidnapping) and under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said.

According to the official, the accused was produced in the court, which remanded him in police custody till June 20.

The exact motive behind the crime is being investigated, he said. PTI