Newspaper hawker held for murder

The accused tried to molest the victim and when she resisted, he slit her throat with a paper cutter. ARJIT SEN THAKUR , superintendent of police

DHARAMSHALA: The Una police on Friday arrested a newspaper hawker for the murder of a 15-year-old girl in the Pratapnagar locality of Amb town of the district. The accused has been identified as Asif Mohammed, 23, also a resident of Amb.

On the afternoon of April 5, the victim was found dead by her mother with her throat slit with a sharp-edged weapon.

Addressing a press conference, Una superintendent of police (SP) Arjit Sen Thakur said that the police had secured the crime scene immediately after receiving the information. “A team of forensic experts from Dharamshala Regional Forensic Science Laboratory had collected vital evidence from the crime scene while the police scanned the entire locality with the help of dog squad. There were no signs of forced entry into the house and it was clear that the perpetrator was known to the victim,” he said.

Thakur said that the accused had been distributing newspaper in the area for about a year and had also taken up plumbing work at the victim’s house about a year ago.

“The accused entered the house at around 1 pm on pretext

Una

of collecting the newspaper bill. He tried to molest the victim and when she resisted, he picked up a paper cutter and slit her throat,” said the SP.

He added that the murder weapon has been recovered. “People in the area and the call records also confirmed the presence of the accused in the area on that day,” said Thakur.

The SP, however, said that prima facie there was signs of sexual assault. The autopsy report of the victim is awaited.

Meanwhile, angry locals and right-wing activists gathered outside the Amb police station demanding capital punishment for the accused or that he be handed over to them. The superintendent of police, Una, has reached the spot and heavy forced has been deployed to prevent any law-and-order situation.