Mumbai: The Narpoli police in Bhiwandi on Friday arrested a 24-year-old man for allegedly raping and murdering his neighbour’s 13-year-old daughter at her residence on Thursday night.
According to the Narpoli police, the incident occurred at around 6 pm on Thursday, when the victim was alone at home. The police said that her father reached home around 7.30 pm on Thursday and saw his daughter lying on the bathroom floor, with her head inside a tub filled with water. He rushed her to a local hospital with the help of some neighbours, where she was declared dead before admission.
“The hospital authorities, after finding out that the victim had been strangled to death, informed us and we sent a team to make inquiries with the father. Our team then visited the house, and as there were no signs of forced entry, we suspected that someone known to the victim, might be behind the offence,” an officer with the Narpoli police station said.
The victim’s younger brother, who was playing outside the house on Thursday evening, told the police that he had seen the accused, who stays in the same locality, leave the house in the evening.
On suspicion, the police picked up the 24-year-old accused and questioned him at length, after which he allegedly broke down and confessed to the crime.
"The accused said that he was alone in his house and saw the victim return home from school. He knew that the victim would be alone till her brother came back home after playing with his friends, or till her father returned home from work, and decided to take advantage of the situation. He entered the victim's house and first forced himself on her, after which he strangled her to death fearing that she might tell her parents about what he had done. He also forced her head inside a water tub to make sure that she was dead before fleeing the scene," the officer said.
The accused was placed under arrest on Friday afternoon following his confession and charged with rape and murder under the Indian Penal Code, along with sexual assault on a minor under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, officers said.
