Rape-murder of minor in Modinagar: Cops file charge sheet against suspect in 7 days

Acting swiftly in connection with the kidnapping, rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in Modinagar, the Ghaziabad police completed filing of a charge sheet against a suspect within a week

Acting swiftly in connection with the kidnapping, rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in Modinagar, the Ghaziabad police completed filing of a charge sheet against a suspect within a week. Police said that they will now be fast-tracking the case trial in court.

Rape-murder of minor in Modinagar: Cops file charge sheet against suspect in 7 days

The incident relates to the victim and her six-year-old cousin who were allegedly kidnapped by their 24-year-old neighbour on the afternoon of August 19. The suspect allegedly took the two minor girls to an isolated field, some two kilometers away from their house and raped and murdered the nine-year-old girl.

The autopsy report of the victim girl confirmed rape and death due to strangulation, police said.

The suspect was arrested the next day on August 20 and has been identified as Kapil Kumar.

“Taking cognisance of the case, the investigation was taken up by a circle officer rank police officer and the charge sheet was completed on Thursday and filed before the court on Friday. We will now expedite the case and request the court to take it up on fast track in order to deliver justice to the victim’s family,” said Iraj Raja, superintendent of police (rural), Ghaziabad.

Sources said that the police have a list of 30 key prosecution witnesses, including eyewitnesses and these also include officers who played a role in collection of forensic evidence.

Police rested their case on “last seen” theory as there are two key witnesses, both minors, who last saw the suspect taking away the two minor girls with him while the other was present near the scene of crime during the assault.

The suspect is charge sheeted under Section 376AB (rape on a woman under twelve years of age) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which carries an imprisonment of not less than 20 years. The additional IPC section includes 302 (murder), which carries maximum punishment of death. The other sections include 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 363 (kidnapping) along with sections from the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

“As part of prosecution, we will pursue the case for maximum punishment for the suspect. During the trial, we will rely heavily on the testimonies of eyewitnesses and forensic evidence collected from the scene of the crime and also from the suspect,” said a police officer.

The case assumed major proportions and police had launched a manhunt and combing operations in nearby areas, which lasted for seven hours and led to the recovery of the six-year-old and her nine-year-old cousin’s dead body.