13-year-old girl murdered as two families clash in Greater Noida

A 13-year-old girl died after two families clashed over a suspected theft in Greater Noida’s Kasna area on Monday, said police

A 13-year-old girl died after two families clashed over a suspected theft in Greater Noida’s Kasna area on Monday, said police.

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Police identified the victim as Rekha, daughter of 40-year-old Ramu Mali. Police registered a case and arrested five suspects.

Both the victim’s family and the suspects are natives of Bulandshahr and live in Ladpura village in Kasna, said police.

Kasna police station house officer Sudhir Kumar said that Mali worked as a caretaker of a mango garden in Ladpura village and lived with family in a makeshift house there. The suspect 45-year-old Dhara Singh was a gardener who worked in a different plot and lived with his family in the neighbourhood, he added.

On August 16, said police, Mali had noticed some goods missing from the garden and he suspected that Singh’s family stole them.

“On Monday, Singh and Mali argued over the issue and soon other family members also reached the spot and assaulted each other,” said Kumar.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (Greater Noida) Vishal Pandey said Rekha attempted to pull her father from the melee.

“In the process, she too was roughed up and she suffered critical injuries. She was rushed to the Greater Noida Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) where she died,” he said.

The victim’s father filed a complaint against Singh and four of his family members – Ravi, Gaurav, Saurav and Rani – in the incident.

Pandey said a case was registered against them under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

“All the five suspects have been arrested. They were produced in court and sent to judicial custody,” he said.