A seven-year-old boy was murdered by his 21-year-old neighbour after he resisted his attempt to sodomise him. The badly mutilated body was recovered from a drain passing through phase-III Okhla Industrial Area with his eyes gauged out and tongue slit. The family alleged that their child was killed by a man next door. After the family staged protest on the Harkesh Nagar main road, the Delhi Police on Thursday arrested the accused who had murdered the boy.
The accused, identified as Sandeep, strangled the boy after he resisted his sexual advances. The accused told the police that he threw the body in the drain two hours after murdering him. The body was recovered from a drain after a local informed the police.
Chinmoy Biswal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Southeast district said, “On April 2, we received a missing complaint about a seven-year-old boy at the Okhla Industrial Area Phase 3 and his decomposed and mutilated body was found in a drain near Harkesh Nagar road under the jurisdiction of Okhla police station.
Aastha, the minor boy's maternal aunt told The Pioneer, “He left home saying that he is going to buy chips from a nearby shop. However, he did not return home. We informed the police but in vain.On Thursday morning, someone spotted his body floating in the drain.”
The officer said, “Extensive search was launched for the missing boy. Announcements were made from loudspeakers from rickshaw and temples. During the course of investigation, it was found that the boy was last seen with Sandeep alias Dangar (21).”
Since the day the minor went missing, Sandeep was absconding. Based on local intelligence, he was found hiding at his brother in law's house in Noida.
During sustained interrogation, Sandeep broke down and revealed that he had kidnapped the seven year old boy and strangled him after the minor boy resisted sexual advances made by Sandeep.
Sandeep further informed police that he threw the body of the child in the drain in Okhla Industrial area phase 3 on the same day. Accordingly, police added sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) apart from sections 363/302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for abduction and murder.
A visibly shaken aunt further said that she suspected Dangar, who lives next to the boy's house as the main accused in the murder of the seven year old boy. The deceased is survived by his parents and two siblings. While his father works as a labourer, his mother works as a domestic help. The family hails from Navada district in Bihar.