Man, father held for murder of 15-year-old in Ghaziabad
GHAZIABAD: Nearly five months after the body of a 15-year-old girl was recovered from the fields of Mohiuddinpur in Meerut, the Ghaziabad crime branch arrested five persons, including girl’s boyfriend and his father, for the murder.
The girl was a Class 9 student from Modi Nagar, Ghaziabad.
The crime branch on Monday arrested prime suspect Sumit Kumar, 21, his father Ramesh, 60, his friends Arif, 21, and Rajeev, 26, and driver Sonu, 26, whose Swift car was hired to take the girl to Meerut to execute the murder.
Kumar alleged he had planned the murder as the girl was forcing him to marry her. He also suspected that she was dating other boys.
Police said Sumit and his accomplices were first picked up for questioning after the girl had gone missing on December 26, 2017, but could not establish anything.
Sumit, who runs a salon in Modi Nagar, said he met the girl in November 2017 during a wedding.
“We met frequently. I gave her a mobile phone which was noticed by her mother. She left her house, called me and asked me to marry her. I was ready and asked her to stay at my friend’s house at Vijay Nagar till the issue subsided. After police picked me up initially, I came to know she had more boyfriends,” Kumar claimed.
“I changed my plan and planned to murder her. On January 8, I roped in driver Sonu for Rs 200 and a bottle of alcohol. We picked her up from Vijay Nagar and took her to Meerut. My father and I strangled her.” Kumar said. Kumar said they also ran the car over her with the help of Sonu.
There was a huge public outcry after girl’s mutilated body was recovered on January 12 this year. “Renewed investigation by the crime branch established the role of the accused. The girl was abducted by Sumit, who sexually assaulted her at his house on the same night. Later, she was confined to the house of Sumit’s friend (Rajeev) at Vijay Nagar in Ghaziabad. Then the accused took her in a hired car and strangled her. She was put under the wheels of the car after which her body was later thrown in the fields,” said Vaibhav Krishna, senior superintendent of police, Ghaziabad.
The police booked the accused for criminal conspiracy, abduction, murder, rape and provision of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
“We started investigation and looked at evidence afresh. The girl’s mother beat her up on December 26, 2017 after she found a mobile phone . Angered, she left her house and called Sumit from a PCO,” said Dinesh Yadav, in-charge, crime branch.
“Sumit took her on a bike with the help of his friend Arif. Later, they dropped her at another friend’s house at Vijay Nagar where she was made to stay till January 10. The initial call on Sumit’s mobile was a major clue which led us to him. Upon questioning, he broke down,” Yadav said.