Over 100 police personnel failed to find a missing 5-year-old girl who was found dead on Thursday in a flat less than 100 meters from where she had gone missing some 72 hours ago on September 23.
Initial investigations suggest that the child was sexually assaulted before being killed at the EWS multistorey buildings at Idgah hills in the Shahjahanad police jurisdiction.
Three persons, including two women, have been arrested by the police. According to Commissioner of Police Bhopal Harinarayan Chari Mishra the accused identified as Atul lured the victim, raped her, and strangled her to death before dumping her body in a water tank.
On Thursday, the decomposing corpse was recovered from the water tank. The accused's mother Basanti and sister Chanchal were aware of the crime and have been booked as accessories in the gruesome crime.A
n SIT has been formed for further investigation into the matter which has shocked residents in the posh Idgah hills locality where the EWS flats came up a few years ago.
The accused, Atul, has a previous record with six cases of theft and molestation against him in Khargone district of the state.
His wife had deserted him a couple of years ago.The accused told the police that taking advantage of the smoke during fogging (carried out by the civic health department), he dragged the girl to his flat.
After raping her, he strangled her to death. He hid the body between the beds in the room for a day but when the body attracted flies, he threw the body into the water tank.
A large number of residents gathered at the scene of crime to protest police negligence, the area has since been cordoned off.
Police said that to avoid suspicion the accused mother and daughter reached the girl's grandmother's house at 10 am on Thursday from where they were arrested. Earlier a woman living in the girl's neighbourhood noticed a pungent smell from the accused's flat. Based on her information, the police searched the flat and the girl's body was recovered from a large plastic water tank kept near the kitchen sink.Sensing simmering anger in the area residents, the police asked them to stay indoors as the body was taken to AIIMS and later family members were taken in haste to the Chhola crematorium for her last rites.
Earlier, Additional DCP Shalini Dixit said that the postmortem of the girl's body is being done. The cause of death will be revealed only after the short PM report. People had come to live on rent in the house where the body was found only five months ago.
The Congress MLA Arif Masood expressed his displeasure over the absence of the Collector and SP on the spot. Questioning CM Mohan Yadav over the incident, the Congress leader asked, "where should we go with this girl? Where should he go with her dead body? Should we come to your bungalow?""Where is that Collector sahab who was standing in Berasia and shouting that whatever you say will happen.
Whatever the BJP workers say will happen. Today the people of Bhopal are calling that this is an SC girl, where is the Collector and SP. Now they don't want to come here. They are hiding their faces. If the SP-Collector do not listen today, then after this the Chief Minister's residence will be surrounded. The Congress party will surroundl the Chief Minister with full force."MLA Atif Aqeel said hashish and marijuana are sold openly at the multi-storey buildings. This should be stopped. Alcohol should also be banned. When a man is intoxicated, he does anything. Here even 15-16 year old children are addicted. Now it is very important to ban intoxication so that the coming generations remain safe.Aqeel also reached the police station with an angry crowd. Police officers kept explaining to the people, but they did not listen. They kept demanding death penalty for the culprits.
