Ghaziabad: Man held for sexual assault, murder of 4-yr-old; dog sniffs out suspect

The dog sniffed the girl’s clothes and went towards suspect’s house, officers repeated the sequence but the dog led the teams to the same house

A four-year-old girl was sexually assaulted and murdered by her 24-year-old neighbour in an isolated house in a locality in Muradnagar, Ghaziabad late Friday evening, police officers said, adding that the suspect was arrested on Saturday night. Police on Saturday said that a sniffer dog from their dog squad led them to the suspect.

The girl, who studied in nursery in a neighbourhood school, was missing since going to a shop 400 metres away from her house on Friday. (Representational image)

The girl, who studies in nursery in a neighbourhood school and whose father works in a private firm, had been missing since she went to a shop 400 metres away from her house on Friday evening, said investigators. When she didn’t return home, her family and neighbours searched the neighbourhood and found her body in an isolated building 100 metres from her house, investigators added.

The neighbours and the girl’s family then informed the police, said officers.

“Our teams inspected the incident site and immediately roped in the dog squad and forensics. The sniffer dog led us to a nearby house towards the suspect, who uses drugs. We picked up the man for questioning,” said Vivek Chandra Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (rural), adding that the girl’s autopsy report indicates that she suffered a major injury on her head and other injuries on her body. The DCP added that certain abrasion injuries were also found on the girl’s back, indicating an attempt to sexual assault.

The suspect was identified as Vishal Kumar. According to police, the sniffer dog sniffed the deceased girl’s clothes and slowly went towards Kumar’s house. Police officers repeated the sequence again and on both occasions, the dog led the teams to the house of the suspect, which is 50 metres from the crime scene, said investigators.

“The suspect during questioning gave different versions of events. Some locals also told us that he was seen near the scene of the crime on Friday evening. The suspect’s mother told us that he had taken a bath on Friday night and left his undergarment unwashed. We have picked up the undergarments to collect forensic evidence,” said DCP Yadav.

“However, he eventually broke down and told us that he spotted the girl when she was returning from the shop. He took her to one of the rooms of the isolated house, and sexually assaulted her. But when she resisted, he rammed her head against the wall, which killed her. He took the body to another room where an old mattress was lying, and hid the body underneath it, and went back home,” the DCP said.

“We have registered a first information report under Indian Penal Code Section 302 (murder) and will add Section 376 (rape), and also levy provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act against the suspect once the evidence is established,” DCP Yadav said.