5-year-old girl raped, gagged to death in Ludhiana

The 21-year-old accused was caught by the resident and handed over to police after he tried to flee.

A 5-year-old girl was gagged to death after being raped by a 21-year-old labourer, Arwinder, in the Focal Point area on Wednesday.

HT File

“The accused took her to his room and committed the crime. He covered the victim’s mouth with his hand so that she could not scream. Later, he covered her with the mattress and locked the door of his room,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Harjinder Singh.

The police claimed that the incident came to light when the victim’s father inquired about his daughter from the accused. He feigned ignorance, but the worried father got suspicious after seeing the locked room of the accused.

The father got the key of the room from the accused and opened it to find the body of her daughter. Meanwhile, the accused, who is from Madhya Pradesh, tried to flee. However, residents caught hold of him and handed him over to the police.

Focal Point SHO inspector Gurwinder Kumar said, “On the statement from the victim’s father, a case has been registered under section 376 A (rape) and 302 (murder) of IPC and sections 3 and 4 of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.