Malwani teen held for rape, murder of 7-year-old girl

The Malwani police on Wednesday arrested a teenager for allegedly raping and murdering a seven-year-old girl on May 23.

On the day of the incident, the minor did not return home after playing, prompting her grandfather to approach the police the same day. The Malwani police registered a kidnapping offence, but later on officials found the girl’s mutilated body in the area.

“We found the body the same night among dense bushes near a creek in Patelwadi locality, close to the girl’s house,” said an officer. Upon sending the body for medical examination, the Malwani police found that the minor had been sexually assaulted and murdered.

“A forensics team did a thorough search of the place where the body was found and collected blood samples,” said the officer.

Meanwhile, the deceased girl’s grandfather too said that he suspected some people in the area who had threatened the family in connection with some property matter. The police drew up a list of suspects and started enquiring with the locals.

“We collected blood and semen samples from all suspects and sent them to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for DNA analysis,” said Milind Khetle, senior police inspector, Malwani police station.

The DNA analysis report was received from FSL on July 5 and revealed that the DNA profile of one of the suspects matched with the one found on the crime scene.

“We had collected some samples found on the young girl’s clothes and these matched with those of one of the suspects,” said the officer.

The identity of the suspect was confirmed as Sunny Sadalu Saroj (19), a resident of the same locality.

The Malwani police arrested Saroj on Tuesday night and booked him under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).

“We are trying to confirm whether he kidnapped, raped and murdered the young girl regarding a property issue. The investigation is still on,” said Mr Khetle.