A horrifying case of child rape and murder has come to light in Belagavi district.
A 3-year-old was raped and murdered in cold blood on Thursday night, allegedly by her uncle. The accused is a 25-year-old daily wage worker who was reportedly very close to the victim and her family.
Suresh* allegedly took Aditi* out to buy sweets on Wednesday, after which he took her to his house. On Thursday, he raped and murdered the little girl.
“On Wednesday evening, he lured the little girl out of her home by offering to buy her sweets. At the time, the girl’s neighbours had seen Suresh take her out. That was the last anyone saw her,” an investigating officer told TNM.
Aditi’s parent, who returned home shortly after she disappeared, became worried when they could not find their daughter.
“Since they had left the girl in her uncle’s care, they believed she would be safe. When the parents asked the neighbours, they informed them that Suresh had taken the girl out. The parents questioned Suresh, and he informed them that he had dropped the girl back home,” the officer said. However, Suresh had taken Aditi back to his place, and was hiding her there.
On Thursday, the parents filed a missing person complaint with the local police station.
According to the police, on Thursday night, Suresh raped Aditi and later strangled her to death. Afraid that people would find out, he buried her body in the sugarcane field near his home.
“There are sugarcane fields near his house and he buried the girl’s body there late at night. We had questioned the neighbours regarding the girl’s disappearance and we came to know that Suresh was the last to be seen with the girl. We brought him in for questioning. He confessed to having taken the girl away when the girl’s parents were not around and also confessed to raping and killing her,” the officer added.
A case has been registered against Suresh under sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape), 363 (kidnap) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence). He has also been booked under relevant sections of the POCSO Act.