3-year-old raped and choked in Surat, body found in polythene bag in neighbour’s room: Police

A three-year-old girl was allegedly raped and choked to death in Gujarat’s Surat by a neighbour, police said on Tuesday, days after a man from Bihar was arrested for raping a 14-month-old in Himmatnagar district leading to violence against migrant labourers in some areas of the western state.

“The girl went missing on the night of October 13. The body, wrapped inside a polythene bag, was found from a locked room of a neighbour on October 15 evening,” an official with Limbayat Police said on condition of anonymity.

Police said the room on the ground floor of a two-storey building was occupied by a man from Bihar called Anil Yadav, who is said around 18- or 20-year-old. He is absconding since Saturday night.

The girl lived with her parents and other two little siblings on the first floor of the same building, police said. Her family is not from Gujarat, they added.

“CCTV footage revealed that the girl had not gone outside the society gate. That led us to do an extensive search within the society premises. On October 15 evening, police broke the locked door of Yadav only to find the body,’’ the official said.

Preliminary reports suggest he might have fled to his native place in Bihar.

The girl’s family said on Tuesday that they will not accept her body from the hospital until the absconding accused was arrested. The family members, supported by their community, have been sitting on a protest outside Simer Hospital demanding action against the accused man.

“Two teams have left for Bihar in search of the accused. The police have been talking with the family to accept the body,’’ the official said.

Surat, a hub for diamond and textile industry with a huge population of migrant workers, has been rocked by multiple cases of rape and murder of minors recently. Two five-year-old girls were raped in two separate incidents in September. Both have survived. An 11-year-old was raped and murdered in April.

Thousands of labourers fled the state after alleged threats and violence they have been facing after the 14-month-old was raped leading to a war of words between the Congress and the ruling BJP blaming each other for the exodus. Chief minister Vijay Rupani on Monday said that migrants labourers from across the country were welcome in Gujarat.

Raghuvir Sahu, a ceramic factory worker from Bihar, was arrested for allegedly raping the infant on September 28 in Himmatnagar.