Boy,16, held for strangling, burning 9-year-old girl in Gurugram
Police said the accused visited the house of the victim to help her do her homework around 10am when her mother and brother had gone to their neighbour’s apartment
A 16-year-old boy was apprehended for allegedly strangling a nine-year-old girl in his neighbourhood to death and attempting to burn her body in Sector 107 on Dwarka Expressway in Gurugram on Monday, said police.
The accused visited the house of the victim to help her do her homework around 10am when her mother and brother had gone to their neighbour’s apartment, said police. Karan Goel, deputy commissioner of police (west), said that the accused has confessed to the crime, saying that he murdered the girl after he was caught stealing.
“To escape from the apartment, he used a cloth to strangulate the girl and before he could dispose off the body and flee from the spot, the girl’s mother reached and he was caught,” said Goel.
The DCP said that police received a call at the control room around 10.45am and a team from Dhankot and Rajendra Park police station reached the spot.
“The mother of the victim and neighbours had caught hold of the juvenile. The mother told police that when she returned home from her neighbour’s apartment with her son, the iron grill door was locked and the wooden door was open,” the DCP said.
“The mother saw a boy who lived in the same society and often visited their house. The boy did not open the gate and with the help of neighbours they broke open the temple room and entered the apartment. The mother saw fire coming out of the room and with the help of the neighbours she entered the bedroom. She was shocked to find her daughter lying dead and her body was set ablaze. There were clothes on her body that were lit by matchbox,” the DCP said.
A case is being registered at Rajendra Park police station and the postmortem will be conducted on Tuesday, said police.
The accused will be produced before the juvenile justice board (JJB) in an hour, said police.