Gurugram serial killer leads cops to another victim’s skeleton

At least 16 cases of rape, murder of minor girls have been solved since Sunil Kumar was arrested, as per police

The skeletal remains of a four-year-old girl, allegedly raped and murdered by a serial killer in October 2014, have been recovered near Gwalior railway station – the second time in three days that accused Sunil Kumar has led law enforcement to a spot where he buried a victim.

On November 24, the Gwalior police recovered the remains and clothes of another minor, a fiveyear-old girl, near the Akhileshwar temple. She was allegedly raped and killed by Kumar in September 2013 after he abducted her from a community lunch, police said.

Gurugram Police has said at least 16 cases of rape and murder of minor girls have been solved in Gurugram, Gwalior, Jhansi and village Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh – charges which, if proved, would make the 23-year-old one of the most heinous serial killers in India – since Kumar was arrested in Jhansi on November 19 for the rape and murder of a three-yearold girl in Gurugram’s Sector 66.

According to the Gwalior police, the girl whose remains were found on Monday was also abducted by Kumar from a community lunch near the railway station. He told the police that he took her to an isolated place, raped her, and bludgeoned her to death with a brick.

The local police registered a case on October 15, 2014, under sections 361 and 363 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Gwalior’s Inderganj police station.

“The victim lived near the railway station with her four siblings and parents. They survived on begging. The parents have identified the clothes recovered from the spot where the skeletal remains were found,” said a police official.

The investigators also recovered the girl’s clothes and nails, which have been sent for a forensic examination.

“The Gwalior police team informed us on Monday about the skeletal remains. One of their teams is already here for questioning and will take the accused man on a production remand for further investigation in his alleged involvement in the four cases which were registered at the Government Railway Police station, Inderganj, and Kampoo police station. In most of the cases, he buried the clothes of the victims to escape arrest,” the cop added.

Kumar, a daily wage labourer, was arrested from Magarpur village after the police got a tip-off. During interrogation, he allegedly confessed to the police that he raped and killed at least 15 other girls over the last seven years in Gurugram, Delhi, Jhansi and Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh, and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.

Police said Kumar, who lived in Mahoba, visited Gurugram to meet his mother and two sisters who work as domestic helps. He would visit his brother-in-law in Jhansi and a distant relative in Gwalior.

On November 23, Kumar showed the police several spots from where he had kidnapped minors in Jhansi and Gwalior. He will be taken to those spots again by the Gwalior Police after they get his custody.

Dharmendra Kushwah, subinspector of Kampoo police station, Gwalior, said DNA test reports of the forensics are awaited and they are also looking at other cases where minors went missing in mysterious circumstances. “We are showing his picture to the people at railway stations and community lunches to get more clues regarding the case. There is a possibility that he would be involved in more cases,” said Kushwah.

Kumar will be produced before a Gurugram court on Wednesday and the city police are likely to demand extended custody for further investigation. “We still have a lot more evidence to collect from different locations from where the incidents were reported. We need reports from the Madhuban Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and technical team for better legal scrutiny before filing the charge sheet. Usually, the charge sheet is filed within 90 days, but we hope not to wait for that long,” Singh said.

The victim lived near the railway station with her four siblings and parents. The parents have identified the clothes recovered from the spot where the skeletal remains were found. POLICE OFFICIAL