Man held for rape-murder of 10-year-old boy and dumping body in canal

A 22-year-old man was arrested on Saturday on charges of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy, strangling him when he threatened to reveal the sexual assault to his family and then dumping his body with his limbs tied in the Upper Ganga Canal in Muradnagar

A 22-year-old man was arrested on Saturday on charges of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy, strangling him when he threatened to reveal the sexual assault to his family and then dumping his body with his limbs tied in the Upper Ganga Canal in Muradnagar.

Ghaziabad, India - December 17, 2022: Ghaziabad Police arrested an accused Rambabu for allegedly killing a child at Muradnagar police station in Ghaziabad , India on Saturday, December 17 . 2022. (HT Photo)

The police said they picked up the man for questioning after CCTV footage revealed that the boy was last seen in his company in the local market. On questioning, he admitted to the crime and was arrested, police said.

The police identified the suspect as Ram Babu, the boy’s neighbour, who hails from Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh and resides in Muradnagar for work. He has been arrested on charges of abduction, unnatural offences, murder, and destruction of evidence under the Indian Penal Code, besides provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

According to the police, the family of the boy approached the police around 11.30pm on December 15 to report that the boy was missing. A missing person case was filed on their complaint at the Muradnagar police station.

“We formed teams and started checking footage from CCTV cameras in the area. We came across one footage in which the suspect was last seen with the boy at the local market. When we nabbed him, he told us that he found the boy near his house on the afternoon of December 15 and later took him near the canal, which is about five kilometres away. He admitted to sexually assaulting the boy and said he decided to kill him as the child threatened to reveal the incident to his family,” said Santosh Kumar, SHO of Muradnagar police station.

The police said that he allegedly strangled the boy before tying his limbs together with a rope. “He told us that he then threw the boy into the canal and fled the spot,” the SHO said.

The investigators said a team of divers were roped in and the body was fished out barely half a kilometre from the scene of the crime near the canal.

“The suspect was identified on the basis of CCTV footage in which the boy was last seen with him. He killed the boy in order to hide his identity and crime. The suspect has been arrested and the case will be fast tracked with an early filing of the charge-sheet,” said Iraj Raja, DCP (rural).

This is the second rape-murder of a minor to be reported in Ghaziabad this December. Earlier, in Sahibabad, a five-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by an unidentified suspect. The police later arrested a suspect on the basis of CCTV footage.