His bones were crushed to fit body inside pit: Uncle of boy killed, buried by neighbours

The family kept looking for the boy who had gone missing on June 5

Eleven-year-old Sameer, who was allegedly killed and buried by his neighbours in their home, was the youngest of five children. The boy’s family said he was abducted on the evening of June 5 by his neighbours when every member of the family, barring children, had gone to offer namaaz.

The boy’s neighbours in Shaheed Nagar in Ghaziabad are alleged to have killed him and buried him a pit in their house over a minor altercation. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

“During these one and half hours, Abbas, 55, and his family pulled my nephew into their house. After his arrest, Abbas said that his family crushed the boy’s bones to fit his body inside a freshly dug pit in their main room. The room had cemented floor, which was taken apart to dig the pit. It was around 3.5-foot-deep and nearly 2.5-foot-wide,” said Gurfan, Sameer’s uncle.

The boy’s father, uncle and other relatives stay in Shaheed Nagar where the incident took place.

“The pit was later filled with mud and a cardboard placed over the floor after burying Sameer. This was done so that no one could notice the broken floor. We have asked officials to seal their house. They have assured us that the cardboard-making unit (that the family owned) will also be sealed soon,” he added.

Sameer had an altercation with Abbas’s grandson, Innu, on the morning of June 5 and went missing the same evening. His family searched for him in the neighbourhood, circulated his pictures on WhatsApp, sent messages to relatives and even made public announcements in the densely populated area, but to no avail.

“We kept asking each and every neighbour, including Abbas’s family, but every time they denied seeing the boy. On Friday, when we were returning after offering namaaz, we found Abbas’ house locked. It remained locked till Saturday, which raised our suspicions. Further, none of the family member’s mobile phone numbers was working. We contacted one of their relatives who then contacted Abbas and brought him to Sahibabad police station. Later, Abbas revealed the sequence of events leading to boy’s murder and later his burial inside his house,” Gurfan added.

The police have now launched a search for Abbas’ three sons and his wife, Jannati, and will also add sections of abduction and murder to the case.