During interrogation, the accused confessed to the police that he was under the influence of alcohol when he spotted the girl.
The postmortem report confirmed that the girl had been raped and then strangled. (Representational Image: iStock)
A seven-year-old girl was allegedly raped and then strangled to death by her neighbour in Outer Delhi. The incident took place in the Narela police station’s jurisdiction in Outer North district area, police said.
The Special Cell of Delhi Police had launched a search operation for the girl after the victim’s father had lodged a missing person’s complaint with the Narela police station on 14 June.
On 16 June, the body of the missing girl was found in an abandoned water sewage plant in Swarn Jayanti Vihar, Narela. The postmortem report confirmed that the girl had been raped and then strangled, a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity. Police then started an investigation to nab the culprit(s) and zeroed in on a suspect, Imran, who also happened to be the victim’s neighbour. Imran was arrested on Sunday, police said.
Advertisement
During interrogation, the accused confessed to the police that he was under the influence of alcohol when he spotted the girl. He offered her a fruit drink and took her to a water sewage plant and raped her there, police said. The accused also confessed that his wife has not been at home since the last couple of days when the incident happened, police said.
The families of the seven-year-old girl and the accused have known each other for a long time and they had both shifted from Shahadra (where they were neighbours) to Swarn Jayanti Vihar in Narela sometime back, police said.
The victim often used to speak to the accused and called him ‘Mama’ (uncle). The accused used to give her toffees and other eatables.
During the investigation, it came to light that the father of the girl was in an illicit relationship with the sister of the accused and both were caught red-handed earlier by Imran, police said. The police are also trying to ascertain whether this could have been the reason behind the commission of the crime.
The accused is a driver by profession but for the last few months, he had been working at a pickle-making factory where he used to cut mangoes. The father of the deceased sells spices at Seelampur, police said.
Advertisement
