Man arrested for rape-murder of 5-year-old girl in Ghaziabad

The suspect, who is not a neighbour of the deceased girl, was spotted in her neighbourhood in CCTV footage on the day she went missing from outside her house, police said. The girl had been missing since 2.30pm on December 1 until her body was discovered a day later in dense vegetation barely 30metres from her house

The Ghaziabad police on Wednesday said they have arrested a 20-year-old man for raping and murdering a 5-year-old girl on December 1. The suspect, who is not a neighbour of the deceased girl, was spotted in her neighbourhood in CCTV footage on the day she went missing from outside her house, police said.

Ghaziabad, India - December 07, 2022: Ghaziabad Police arrested Sonu Gupta an alleged accused of killing a 5-year-old girl, at Harsaon Police Line in Ghaziabad, India on Wednesday, December 07, 2022. (Photo by Sakib Ali /Hindustan Times)

The girl had been missing since 2.30pm on December 1 until her body was discovered a day later in dense vegetation barely 30metres from her house.

“The suspect was seen in CCTV footage from the neighbourhood on the day of the incident. His face was visible and we also prepared his facial composite on the basis of information gathered from local residents who had seen him. There are no eyewitnesses and the evidence against the suspect is purely circumstantial. We will make a strong case and will also take the help of DNA profiling and forensics,” said a senior police officer.

The suspect has no criminal record and resides 4km away from the neighbourhood where the girl resided, police said.

“In the initial stages of the investigation, an elderly woman in the locality told us that she saw some people taking away the deceased girl on a scooter. This was confirmed by some other people, too. However, we extended our probe and it turned out to be false information,” said another police officer.

“A dog squad was also roped in and at least 800 mobile phones were scanned in the area,” the officer added.

Based on the autopsy findings, the police have added rape, destruction of evidence and murder charges against the suspect, besides levying provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

Police officers said that while conducting an extended search in a 10km radius, they came across the suspect on CCTV footage, which showed him walking and wearing the same clothes in which he was spotted in the deceased girl’s locality.

The post-mortem report of the deceased girl said she was killed at least 18 hours before the autopsy was conducted on December 2.