A 12-year-old girl was murdered after suspectedly being sexually assaulted in outer Delhi’s Narela area. Preliminary investigations point to strangulation, said the cops, adding, “It is not yet sure that she was raped. His body will be sent for an autopsy on Thursday after which it would be clear whether she was sexually assaulted.”
The police said the victim, a Class 8 student of a nearby government school, has been living with her siblings, oldest being her 15-year-old brother, in Narela for the past two months as their parents had left for Bihar to celebrate Chhat Puja. On Tuesday evening at about 6 pm, the girl had gone to buy a soap from a grocery store near her house and did not return. On this, the cops said, her family approached the police.
The victim’s family members, on the other hand, have alleged that the cops did not listen to them when the victim’s brother and sister went to the police station. “It was only after they went back home and made a PCR call that a team from the local police station came to their house,” alleged a relative, adding, “After that, the cops asked them to go back home and come back with a big photograph of the girl.”
On Wednesday morning, the girl’s body was found lying near a MCD school, some three kilometres from her house. “The body was sent to a mortuary and an autopsy will be ordered after the arrival of her parents. The autopsy reports are awaited by Friday,” said a senior police officer.
Investigating officials said that from probe till now it seems that she was strangled to death. “There are injury marks on her neck,” said the senior police officer, adding, “Though her clothes are intact, we suspect that she was sexually assaulted, confirmation about which would only be given after the autopsy results.”
The police added that it had found CCTV footage of the area in which the girl can be seen returning to her house after buying soap, but what happened to her before she could reach her residence is still a matter of investigation. A case of murder has been registered at the Narela police station and further investigations are on. “We are also questioning her brothers and sisters to find out if she was being stalked or harassed by anyone,” said the investigating officers.
The girl’s father worked at a factory in Narela, but was in Bihar for the past two months.
The children were staying at a rented accommodation costing Rs 2,400 per month in Narela. They would survive on the income their eldest brother who earned by selling vegetables after school.
