E-Paper
‘Drunk’ neighbour raped, killed 6-year-old, held: Ludhiana police
Officials of Ludhiana police said the accused, Jatinder Kumar Shah, 32, was reportedly drunk at the time of the incident
The local police on Wednesday arrested a labourer for allegedly raping and killing a 6-year-old girl who lived in his neighbourhood, officials said.
Police said the accused, Jatinder Kumar Shah, 32, was reportedly drunk at the time of the incident. Shah, who hails from Bihar, is a daily wage labourer.
The arrest comes a day after the minor was found dead and her body wrapped in a blanket at labour quarters in Fauji Colony.
According to police, the accused gagged the girl to death after raping her. Later, he wrapped the body in a blanket and dumped it on the tin roof of an adjoining factory.
After the crime, the accused escaped from his rented accommodation and hid in a park near Metro Road.
Police arrested Shah based on a tip-off. Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja saiod the accused is an acute drinker, and his wife had left him due to this habit. She also took along their two children, a 10-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter.
The DCP added that the accused had been drinking since the morning on Tuesday .
He said the minor was playing in the veranda when Shah lured her with candies and took her to his room, where he raped her.
The girl lost consciousness due to pain and the accused gagged her to death. “As he realised that he could land in trouble, he wrapped the body in a blanket and threw it on the roof. He then fled. The minor’s grandmother and locals started searching for the missing girl. They found the body on the roof and alerted the police,” said the DCP.
Moti Nagar station-house officer (SHO) inspector Varinderpal Singh Uppal said that as the case was sensitive, police left no stone unturned to solve it.
“As we suspected someone close was involved, police scanned all the residents of the labour quarters and found Shah missing. Police launched a search for him and traced him to a park. He was trying to escape from the city to avoid arrest,” the SHO added.
A case was registered under sections 103 (murder), 63 (rape), 66 (causing death or resulting in persistent vegetative state of victim) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) BNS and section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
