An 11-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by two of her neighbours in Panipat, Haryana and also allegedly committed necrophilia after murdering her, reports PTI.
The police have arrested the two offenders, Pradeep Kumar (27) and Sagar (22), Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said to a group of reporters in Karnal, reports ANI.
The offenders had allegedly burnt her clothes after raping and murdering her, in an attempt to destroy the evidence, reports The Indian Express.
Deputy SP Sandeep Kumar said, “body of a minor girl was found yesterday, 2 culprits were questioned who admitted to luring the girl inside their house, murdering her and then one of them raping her; Further investigation in the case is underway.”
In the wake of multiple occurrences of such heinous crimes in Haryana, CM Manohar Lal Khattar has sought a report of crimes against women all across the state, say media reports.
The victim had reportedly been missing since Saturday evening, when she had left her house to go throw the garbage in the village dump. Pradeep – a married man – spotted the girl and called her into the house, reports Times of India (TOI).
The TOI report, which carries Pradeep’s confession, states that Sagar and Pradeep had both been drinking, and had at first verbally harassed the victim. Shortly after, they raped her and when she tried to resist, they strangled her as well. Pradeep confessed that the both of them had then committed necrophilia and kept the body till about 11pm, before dumping the body near a village pond.
The two have been arrested and booked under the POCSO act. The police are also attempting to verify the confessions of the two in terms of them having committed necrophilia on the victim’s body, reports TOI.
The accused have confessed to their crime. We have sent the body for post-mortem. We have also asked the medical board to ascertain as if the victim’s body was abused after her murder.Rahul SP, Panipat SP told TOI
The victim was allegedly living with her grandfather, since her mother had remarried after divorcing her father, the report adds.
This tragic incident comes close on the heels of another similar case, where a minor Dalit girl was raped and murdered by multiple persons near the Jind district of Haryana. The 15-year old girl had been brutally beaten and tortured, with the postmortem revealing 19 different injuries on her body, along with a ruptured liver.
Referring to the rape and murder of both of these Dalit girls in Haryana, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda lashed out at the current government and criticised the “complete breakdown of law and order” in the state, reports PTI.
“This government has failed on all fronts. The law and order situation has completely broken down. Children are neither safe in schools nor in their homes. Such heinous crimes are increasing, but the government seems to be in slumber,” he said, the PTI report adds.
(With inputs from PTI, Indian Express and Times of India)
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