Once again, the Delhi-NCR region witnesses another brutal crime against Dalits. According to NewsBeak, a nine-year old Dalit girl was raped and murdered by the landlord of the property she and her family were living at. The Delhi Police, revealed that the girl had gone missing from her home on December 12 and was allegedly abducted, raped, and murdered by a man who resided in the same area. The accused has been identified as 52-year-old Sanjeev Rana who was taken into custody on Sunday, December 17.
The child’s parents are both labourers in a factory who resided in a rented accommodation in Ghaziabad. The horrifying incident took place near her home. Her parents revealed that the girl was last seen near her home around 2 pm on that fateful day. It was also observed that she went missing only after she accepted a lift from Rana.
The father of the victim told The Quint that initially they had just thought that she was out playing, but they grew worried as there was no sign of her till night, “I left for work in the morning, while my wife left at around 1:30 pm, taking our two-year-old son with her. My daughter was playing outside when my wife left. But later, I got a call from my neighbour that my daughter was missing. Initially, I thought she had gone to her friend’s place, but there was no sign of her till night.” The father narrated that Rana, accused of the crime, had even offered to search for her when they discovered she was missing. Following this, the child’s family contacted the police on December 12 at around 8:30 pm to report her disappearance.
The accused, Rana, the alleged perpetrator, had been admitted to a hospital after he had had a road accident, and following this accident he confessed to the police after they questioned him.
“He told us he abducted the girl and killed her on December 12. He claimed to have dumped the body in a canal. We have been trying to retrieve it. We are checking the route he took on the day of the crime,” the DCP has stated, according to Outlook India.
As of now the body of the murdered victim is not found, the Delhi police in the investigation are trying to locate the body in the canal where Rana states that he had allegedly disposed of it. The police have stated, “We are checking entire routes of the accused and the accused will be brought in to search for the victim’s body on Tuesday.” According to The Quint, divers have been deployed to survey the canal.
Meanwhile, Swati Maliwal, the chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), has taken note of the situation and issued a notice to the station house officer of the respective area for a report on the progress of the investigation. The accused so far has been booked by the police on charges of murder, kidnapping and rape under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The victim’s family and neighbours have staged a protest at GT Karnal road. The protesting family members have told The Quint, “No one should ever go through what we did. We need justice. Before that, all I want is for the police to find my daughter’s body so we can perform her last rites.”
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