Minor’s body on mosque roof: 24yearold man, nephew arrested

GHAZIABAD: The six-year-old girl whose body was discovered from the roof of a mosque on the morning of October 7 was gang-raped, subjected to unnatural sex and later murdered, allegedly by a 24-year-old man and his 18-yearold nephew, the police said. They were arrested on Wednesday.

Pieces of fodder straw stuck to her body and label-marking on the bags used to dispose of her body led police to the accused.

The police ruled out the involvement of a local councillor and his three brothers who had initially been named as accused in the FIR filed by the girl’s family.

The accused were identified as Mujeeb Beg, a production officer with a pharmaceutical company in Himachal Pradesh, and his nephew Shibbu, a student of class 11 at a local college.

The police said the girl had gone missing from outside her house around 12.50pm on October 6. “After returning from the local market, the girl was sitting on the stairs outside a neighbour’s house. Shibbu allegedly lured the girl to a room in his house, telling her that another girl from the locality was waiting to play with her. After he allegedly took the girl to the room, the other accused also arrived. They allegedly raped her and also engaged in unnatural sex with her,” Vaibhav Krishna, senior superintendent of police , said.

The medical report confirmed rape, unnatural sex and death by strangulation, the police said.

“Prime facie, the motive seems to be rape and murder. They also allegedly had an altercation with the girl’s father three months ago but things had returned to normal,” the SSP added. The two allegedly strangled the girl in the room located next to the main entrance of their house.