An 11-year-old girl was kidnapped, raped and brutally murdered in Gujarat’s Surat district, after which a man was arrested while his accomplice is being questioned, police said on Monday and added that the victim was prima facie brutalised causing serious injuries to her private parts.
Police are investigating whether the girl was raped by one man or more persons were involved. The incident occurred on Sunday near Palsana town, located 15 km away from Surat, an official said.
”The victim girl was taken to a flat near her residence when her parents were away and raped there. When her parents returned home and noticed she was missing, they launched a search and found her lying grievously injured inside a room that was locked from outside not far from their residence,” the Palsana police station official said.
”They rushed her to a private hospital, where she was declared dead by doctors. A case was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (Punishment for murder), 376 (Punishment for rape), 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 361 (kidnapping) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act,” he said.
Addressing media persons on Monday evening, Surat Range Inspector General of Police Rajkumar Pandian said that a man, identified as Dayaram, was arrested in connection with the crime. ”He was arrested based on CCTV footage after it emerged during the investigation that he had purchased a lock to confine the girl inside the room after raping her,” the IG said.
According to the IG, the accused has ”confessed” to the crime. His accomplice in the crime is being questioned.
”Police are gathering medical evidence to ascertain whether the girl was raped by one or more persons. Further investigation is underway,” Pandian said.
Narrating the sequence of events, Pandian said the family members of the girl started looking for her after she didn’t return home on Sunday evening. ”When the girl’s mother returned to their flat located in a four-storey building on Sunday evening, her younger son told her that his sister had not returned home. The family members then started searching for her. They found her locked inside a room not far from their house,” Pandian told reporters.
The victim was rushed to a private hospital, where doctors found that she had succumbed due to grievous injuries to her vagina and other parts of the body, he added.
