Farmers Movement Archive

Four arrested for rape, murder of 8-year-old girl in Mangaluru

Mangaluru police on Wednesday arrested four men for allegedly gang raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl at a tile factory on the outskirts of Mangaluru city. Police said the suspects adducted the girl and took turns to rape her.Four suspects have been identified as Mukesh Singh (20), Muneem Singh (20), Jaisingh (21) and Manish Tikri (33). While Tikri is from Jharkhand, the other three accused are natives of Madhya Pradesh. All four are workers of the factory where the assault took place. All the accused confessed to the crime, an officer said.The incident took place on November 21. According to police, the factory, where the incident took place, employed several people from other states, many of whom live with their families. The child was the daughter of a couple of working at the factory, said the officer.“On the day of the incident, the victim was playing with her brother and sisters in the factory compound. The arrested men took the girl to their room and allegedly raped her in turns. As the girl was crying loudly because of bleeding and pain, one of the men smothered her to death. They then tossed the body into a drain,” said a senior Mangaluru police official who didn’t want to be named.The parents of the girl began searching for her after her sibling, who was playing with her, raised alarm after she went missing. At around 6 pm after searching around the factory her body was found in a drain. When the people in the area including the parents went searching for the girl, the accused had also acted like searching for her, police said.The investigation revealed that the suspects have been sexually abusing the child for several days. In the past, they had taken the girl to their accommodation offering chocolates and used to sexually assault her.Police registered a case under the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. Four teams were formed to probe the case in light of seriousness of the crime.According to police, the teams after thorough verification of CCTV footage, other evidence and witness accounts took the four men into custody.

Hindustan Times

25-11-2021

India