A fourteen-year-old boy was sexually assaulted and murdered by a gang of 13 people, most of whom were minors. The minor boy was stabbed 24 times on the intervening night of June 29-30 over suspicions of being a informer to the rival gang member, and his body was found dumped in a Delhi canal on July 1.
The boy was found in the canal with stab wounds and blunt force injuries to his private parts, a police official told PTI news agency on Friday.
Ten out of the thirteen people involved in the crime are in police custody, including the main accused, Krishna alias Bhola, aged 19.
Accused believed victim was informer for his rival
Krishna allegedly planned the murder as he believed that the victim was an informer of his rival gang, the Badhwar brothers, Monu and Sonu. On the intervening night of June 29-30, Krishna and his associates arranged knives and stopped the victim near Veer Chowk Bazar, beat him up and abducted him on a motorcycle. The boy was then taken to a spot near the Munak Canal, where he was stabbed and sexually assaulted.
The Badhwar brothers, who had assaulted Krishna last year, are currently in jail after they were charged with the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for carrying out several illegal activities, including illegal liquor trade and robberies.
{{/usCountry}}The Badhwar brothers, who had assaulted Krishna last year, are currently in jail after they were charged with the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for carrying out several illegal activities, including illegal liquor trade and robberies.
{{/usCountry}}On July 1, Samaypur Badli Police Station received a PCR call at 3:10 pm regarding a body in the Munak Canal. “A young male dead body, which was slightly decomposed, was found lying completely naked with a scarf wrapped around its neck in Munak Canal and several stab wounds all over the body,” Deputy Commissioner of Police, Hareshwar Swami, said.
The body was later identified as that of a 14-year-old boy, and a case was registered. Later, the postmortem report revealed the brutality of the crime involving 24 stab wounds, along with “blunt force in the anus”, confirming that the boy was sexually assaulted, a senior official told PTI.
Three accused hid as Kanwar yatris
Meanwhile, the police said that they were able to track one of the minors through his social media activity. Three of the accused were traced in Haridwar, who were trying to pass off as Kanwar yatris and were staying at the Kanwar camp in Meerut.
To catch the three accused, police disguised themselves as Kanwariyas and entered the camp to avoid causing trouble on the night of July 18. During the investigation, the three accused confessed to the crime and revealed the names of three more accused, Deepak, Chandan and Sachin.
Police said that they are working with the legal team to ensure maximum punishment for the accused, seeing the heinous nature of their crime. “Since most of the accused are minors, we will appeal to the court to treat those above the age of 16 as adults,” the officer said.
(With inputs from PTI)