Ghaziabad: Neighbour arrested for 4-yr-old girl’s rape, murder

The accused, in an inebriated state, randomly picked up the girl from outside her house, said police

Two days after the body of missing four-year-old girl was found in Nandgram, Ghaziabad, her neighbour was arrested on Wednesday for her alleged rape and murder, police said, adding that the 24-year-old man had sustained bullet injuries in an exchange of fire with police at the spot of the crime.

“We have CCTV footage showing the suspect taking the girl with him. The bloodstained clothes were found at the scene of the crime. The suspect murdered her by hitting her with a stone,” the DCP said. (Representational image)

According to her family, the girl had gone missing while playing with neighbourhood children outside their home around 6pm on Monday. During a search for her, the neighbour, identified as Gaurav Prajapati, allegedly had led the family to the spot 1km from their home where she was found. The family had accused him of rape and murder. Police had detained Prajapati the same night.

Ziauddin Ahmad, assistant commissioner of police (ACP-Nandgram), told HT on Wednesday that Prajapati had admitted to “raping and murdering the girl. The accused, in an inebriated state, randomly picked up the girl from outside her house”.

Ghaziabad deputy commissioner of police (DCP) of city zone, Dhawal Jaiswal, told HT that the accused had been formally arrested and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections pertaining to rape and firing at the police as well as relevant sections from the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Arms Act have been added to the first information report (FIR).

“We have CCTV footage showing the suspect taking the girl with him. The bloodstained clothes were found at the scene of the crime. The suspect murdered her by hitting her with a stone,” the DCP said.

The said Prajapati was taken to the crime spot on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday to recover blood-stained clothes.

There, he “had hidden a country-made pistol. He took out the pistol and fired at the police team. The police opened retaliatory fire, and the suspect sustained bullet injuries to each of his legs,” said the ACP.

The officer said Prajapati is stable and undergoing treatment at a hospital. No police personnel were injured in the incident.

According to police, Prajapati, under the pretext of buying her chocolates, took the girl to an isolated field on Monday evening, where he allegedly raped and murdered her.

On Tuesday, the victim’s father told HT that when they found the body, “there were no clothes on her lower body, and she was bleeding from her private parts, as well as her ear and head.”

The family rushed her to MMG Hospital, where doctors declared her dead. “We suspected Gaurav because he had blood on his face and clothes,” he said.

Umesh Kumar, station house officer of Nandgram police station, under which jurisdiction the crime took place, had said, “The autopsy report indicates blood and injuries around the private parts and also a head injury. The cause of death is due to head injury. There are 10-11 other injuries like contusions and abrasions.”

The accused is married and his younger brother has been in jail for the past five months in connection with a bike theft case registered at Sihani Gate police station, said the ACP.

The girl’s family is from Kannauj and shifted to Ghaziabad about three years ago. Her father is a painter. The deceased was the youngest of three siblings. She had two elder brothers aged 13 and 11.