LUCKNOW: A nursery student was raped and murdered on Saturday evening at Bansmandi locality in Hasanganj area. Asif (18), the girl's maternal relative and accused in the case who was arrested on Sunday afternoon allegedly held the seven-year-old girl in captivity for at least three hours before killing her.

Asif is said to have killed the girl brutally after repeatedly assaulting her sexually inside an isolated room on the first floor of his house when members of his family had gone out to attend the burial of a neighbour. The girl stayed in the same neighbourhood a few metres away from Asif's house.

The accused used a torn vest to gag the girl and tie her hands. Fearing the girl would reveal his identity if allowed to go, Asif slashed her wrists and banged her head against a wall before finally slitting her throat with a knife, said police.

The girl's maternal grandparents had brought her to the city from Raibareli last year to provide her better education. Girl's grandfather works with Public Works Department. The girl's father is a private employee at Jalandhar while her mother stays at Raibareli. She was studying in nursery in a private school located in Madehganj area.

On Saturday, around 4pm, the girl stepped out to play. Asif gave Rs 15 to the girl and lured her with the promise of buying her ice cream. He then took the girl inside his house discreetly.

Around 8pm, the girl's grandparents and other people in the locality launched a frantic search for her. Asif joined the worried group and tried to console the deceased's grandparents. Around 2am on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, Asif returned with the girl's body in his arms, and told everyone he found the body dumped near a local shrine. He also claimed that a group of four assailants with covered faces ran from the area before he could have raised an alarm to alert others.

Hasanganj police was informed about discovery of the body. In charge of Hasanganj police station sub-inspector Dinesh Singh said that on being detained for questioning, Asif turned nervous. "We came across some loopholes in his story. On being grilled hard, he confessed to his crime," added Singh.

Police searched the first floor room and recovered the blood-stained objects that included a knife and clothes of both the deceased and accused. The girl's slippers were also recovered from the room. After having washed the blood stains that were splattered all over the room, Asif had picked up the corpse and reached the deceased's house in the wee hours.

How the case was cracked: Police asked Asif to pinpoint the exact location where he spotted the corpse near the shrine. Though the deceased was soaked in blood and blood drops were dripping from the corpse, no signs to suggest corpse was dumped near the shrine were noted. Moreover, the corpse was not covered in dust. "Had Asif's version been correct, the body would have been covered with dust. We then became sure that he had been lying and decided to check his house," said Singh.

