Neighbour killed minor girl in Delhi’s Khayala after being caught stealing: Police

The accused was seen on CCTV camera, loitering outside the girl’s house quite a few times before the crime.

Three days after a 15-year-old girl was found murdered with her throat slit at her home in west Delhi’s Khyala, police on Thursday arrested of a 34-year-old neighbour of the family for the crime.

Police said the accused man murdered the girl, a class 8 student, for trying to stop him from stealing cash and jewellery when her parents were away.(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Police said the man, Parvinder Singh alias Rinku, murdered the girl, a class 8 student, for trying to stop him from stealing cash and jewellery when her parents were away.

The man was seen on CCTV camera, loitering outside the girl’s house quite a few times before the crime.

Deputy commissioner of police (west) Monika Bhardwaj said Singh was very close to the girl’s family and often visited their house.

About a week ago, Singh was at their house when he saw her mother keep a bag containing jewellery inside a closet. As Singh was in need of money, he planned to steal the jewellery, police said.

On December 31 evening, Singh went to their house after learning that the girl’s parents were away and her brother was playing in the neighbourhood, Bhardwaj said . He found the girl studying in her room and went to her parents’ bedroom.

Singh opened the closet and was taking out the jewellery when the girl came and asked what he was doing, the DCP said.

“When the girl warned Singh she would inform her parents, he panicked and strangled her with a plastic rope. Singh then slit her throat with a kitchen knife and fled with cash and jewellery. Singh was wearing surgical gloves, which he had purchased especially for the theft, throughout the crime,” said an investigator.

Police said the murder was discovered when the girl’s brother returned home and found his sister dead. He informed his parents, who called the police control room.

The police scanned CCTV cameras installed nearby and zeroed in on Singh as video footage confirmed his presence near the girl’s home at the time of the crime.

“He initially claimed innocence but when confronted with the footage, he confessed. His interrogation led to the recovery of stolen jewellery, some cash and the pair of hand gloves he had used in the crime,” the officer added.