Ghaziabad minor’s murder case: Police add rape and POSCO Act to probe, suspect still on run

A senior police official said that though the postmortem report did not clearly indicate sexual assault but on the basis of other findings, the IPC section for rape and provisions of the POCSO Act have been added to the case investigation.

A day after the body of a five-year-old girl, who went missing on August 2, was found inside a plastic bag in Khoda village on Saturday, the Ghaziabad Police have added sections of rape and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act of the IPC. The police said that the sections have been added based on circumstantial evidence indicated by the postmortem report.

The spot where the girl’s body was found in Ghaziabad’s Khoda village on August 3, 2018.(Sakib Ali/ HT Photo)

The Ghaziabad police, which reconstructed the crime scene last night, found blood stains on the floor and the walls where the suspect was living. They also found a bedsheet with blood stains bundled in a corner on the roof.

“The postmortem report has not clearly indicated sexual assault but on the basis of other findings we have added IPC section for rape and provisions of the POCSO Act to the case investigation,” said Vaibhav Krishna, senior superintendent of police (SSP).

Also, the police are investigating the murder case with relevant sections of abduction and destruction of evidence.

The plastic bag with the victim’s body stuffed inside it was found on the adjacent roof of the first floor of her uncle’s house. She had gone missing around 8pm on August 2. Her family had lodged an FIR for abduction at the Khoda police station on August 3.

“The girl’s body was found in a decomposed state. Her legs had contusion while there were injury marks on her lips. Clothes on her lower body were not in order,” said a police officer.

Police said that a 32-year-old cab driver from Agra, who was staying as a tenant on the first floor of the girl’s house, is a suspect in the case. The man has been missing since Saturday and police sources said that he had gone to his in-laws’ house at Mainpuri.

“We questioned the driver’s brother who told us that he had gone to Mainpuri to celebrate his son’s birthday. We have sent teams to trace him but his mobile phone is switched off, which raises suspicion of his involvement,” a police officer said.

The victim’s father said that the man had helped the family look for the girl, but his sudden disappearance raised doubts.

“Our tenant did not inform us before leaving the house and this has raised our suspicion. He took part in looking for the girl and even went with us in an auto, fitted with a loudspeaker, to make announcements about my missing daughter. But he suddenly disappeared. My daughter would often go to his room to play with his one-year-old child,” the girl’s father said, adding that the man’s family has been away in Mainpuri since the past two months.

Police said that agitated locals again tried to block NH-24 on Sunday morning, demanding justice for the girl but later withdrew. “We have asked the police to nab the culprit in next 24 hours, failing which we would demand a CBI probe,” the girl’s father said.