3-year-old girl raped, killed, buried by neighbour, 24, in Gurugram: CCTV clue leads to arrest

Investigators said the man used his familiarity with the child to lure her away to a vacant plot near their homes where he committed the crime

A 24-year-old man was arrested on Friday for allegedly raping and murdering a three-year-old girl who lived in his neighbourhood in Gurugram’s Sector 36, police said.

The accused, who is married and has a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, lived separately from his wife. Police in Gurugram said he frequently played with the victim, using that familiarity to lure her away. (Representative image/Pixabay)

Investigators familiar with the case said that the accused appeared to have used his familiarity with the toddler to lure her away on Thursday evening to an empty plot near their homes, where he allegedly raped and murdered her. He then dug a shallow pit with his hands and buried the child’s body in an attempt to conceal the crime.

Police said the victim lived with her parents in rented accommodation in a building at Mohammadpur Jharsa in Sector 36. The accused also lived in the same building with his parents.

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According to investigators, the incident took place at around 6.40pm on Thursday when the accused took the girl from outside her home and led her to a secluded plot two to three kilometres away. There he allegedly raped and murdered her within approximately 40 minutes, the officer cited above said. The man then dug a shallow pit with his hands in loose soil and buried the body in an attempt to hide it.

The girl’s mother panicked when she could not locate her daughter and alerted her husband, who returned from work immediately. After hours of searching, the parents sought help from locals and scanned CCTV footage from nearby shops, which showed the suspect taking the girl by the hand.

The family tracked the accused to his workplace at a factory in Sector 37, from where they took the accused with them to the police at around 12.30am on Friday.

A senior police officer said the suspect initially misled investigators, claiming he had dropped the girl midway. “The suspect kept misleading everyone claiming that he had dropped her midway. Afterwards, they brought him to the station and handed him to the cops,” the officer said.

Under interrogation, he confessed to the crime and led a police team to the body, which was recovered between 1am and 1.30am from an empty plot behind the Sector 37 industrial area, police said.

The accused, who is married and has a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, lived separately from his wife. Police said he frequently played with the victim, using that familiarity to lure her away.

Based on a complaint filed by the victim’s father, a first information report (FIR) was registered on Friday against the suspect under sections 103(1) (murder), 137 (kidnapping) and 238(a) (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act at Sector 37 police station.