The Mumbai police Wednesday night arrested a 19-year-old boy for allegedly raping and killing a nine-year-old boy near a graveyard the previous day. The accused lured the victim to an isolated spot near the graveyard under the pretext of offering him toys and food, before raping him, said the police.
When the victim started shouting, the accused allegedly assaulted him and strangled him before fleeing the scene.
The police said the accused, a native of Bihar who works at a godown in Thane, lured the minor, a Mumbai resident, to a graveyard after noticing him walking alone outside a railway station. Based on the injury marks on the body of the minor, the police said he might have resisted the alleged rape, which led to the accused physically assaulting him.
After the body of the minor was found, the police sent it for a post-mortem examination and filed an FIR of rape and murder. Based on CCTV footage, the police traced the accused and arrested him.
An officer said they were checking if the accused had any prior cases against him. He was produced before a local court Thursday, and remanded in police custody. The officer said a forensic investigation team visited the spot and collected DNA samples.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd