delhi

Updated: Mar 27, 2017 10:51 IST

A four-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by her 16-year-old neighbour in outer Delhi’s Narela on Thursday afternoon. The juvenile accused, police said, was allegedly planning to bury the girl’s body when another boy from the neighbourhood saw him and raised an alarm. The locals then caught the teenager, thrashed him and then handed him over to the police.

MN Tiwari, deputy commissioner of police (Rohini), said that a case of murder and rape under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and protection of children from sexual offences (POCSO) act was registered against the teenager at Narela police station. The boy was apprehended and produced before the juvenile justice board.

A senior police officer said that the girl lived with her parents and one-year-old brother in Narela. Her parents work as labourers at building construction sites in the area. On Thursday morning, the parents left for work at a nearby construction site, leaving both their children back at home.

Around noon, the girl went out to play with her friends. The 16-year-old boy then allegedly saw her playing and lured her to an under-construction building on the pretext of giving her a chocolate. The teenager then took the minor girl to a bathroom and raped her.

When the girl started crying, the teenager panicked and strangulated her to death. He then picked up a brick and smashed her face, to hide the girl’s identity and also to cover up his gruesome deed. Police sources said that the boy was planning to bury the girl’s body in the ground outside the under construction building.

However, a boy who was playing with the minor before she was kidnapped spotted the accused and raised an alarm. The boy’s alarms alerted locals who then caught hold of the boy. They then informed the girl’s parents who were already searching for her in the locality after they found her missing from home. A local, meanwhile, informed the police control room. A police team arrived and apprehended the boy.

“The boy has been sent to a correction home. The investigation in the case is going on,” said the officer. The girl’s body was handed over to her family after a post-mortem examination.