Mumbai, Jan 15 (TOI): Three men were arrested on Saturday on charges of raping and killing a four-year-old girl in Bhayander. The fourth accused is untraceable.
The girl, who stayed with her parents in the shanties of Azad Nagar, had gone missing while playing outside her home on Monday evening. Her body was found half-buried in a drain at an isolated spot behind the Golden Nest Complex in Bhayander on Thursday.
Around 8pm on Monday, the 24-year-old main accused, who used to load goods in the tempo of the victim's father, purchased a bar of chocolate from a grocery store and used it to lure the girl. One she agreed to come, he carried her in his arms towards an open ground behind the Azad Nagar slums. The three other accused - aged 38, 34 and 33- were waiting there and all four took turns to brutalize the minor.
"As she began crying, the main accused hit her on the head with a stone. The impact killed her instantly. The accused then carried the body to the drain and buried it under the slush," said Thane rural police superintendent Mahesh Patil. "After disposing of the body, the accused washed themselves by drawing water from a nearby well. They went to a hotel afterwards and ate rice and fish curry," said a police official.
The accused have been booked for gangrape (IPC sections 376 [D]), kidnapping (sections 363, 364), murder (302) and under sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
On Thursday, two boys saw the body and the police were alerted. A police team was formed to investigate and 24 men from the locality were detained for questioning. The shopkeeper who sold the chocolate to the main accused gave the police his description. Residents recalled having seen the child with the main accused, after which the cops arrested him. "He used to visit the victim's home and often give her chocolates," the police official added.
The autopsy conducted at JJ Hospital confirmed that the child was sexually abused and the assault had fractured her skull. The men originally hail from Uttar Pradesh and live in make-shift huts near Azad Nagar.