Another child, 7, raped, killed at wedding in Etah

THE INCIDENT IS THE LATEST IN A STRING OF GRUESOME ATTACKS ON CHILDREN REPORTED IN RECENT WEEKS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY

A seven-year-old girl attending a wedding ceremony with her family in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah was raped and murdered early on Tuesday, the police said, in the latest in a raft of child rape and murder cases reported in recent days from across the country.

A 19-year-old man, identified only as Sonu, was arrested as a suspect and a case registered against him under sections 302 (murder) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the police said.

Angry members of the victim’s family, who have a readymade garments business, blocked traffic on Aliganj Road and demanded that the suspect be handed over to them. The district administration pacified the family, holding out reassurances of strict action against the suspect, after which they called off the protest, enabling the police to take the suspect for a medical examination. The suspect was sent to judicial custody for 14 days. He was presented before a court on Tuesday after being medically examined.

Etah district magistrate Amit Kishore said compensation of ~10 lakh under the Mahila Samman Fund had been handed over to the family by the district administration. The girl’s family told the police she had gone missing at around 1am on Tuesday. The victim’s body was found in an underconstruction house, said Pankaj Mishra, who is in charge of Etah’s Kotwali Nagar police station.

“The accused Sonu was found to be the culprit and taken into custody. Sonu is the son of the man who provides tents for marriage functions,” Mishra said.

He said the accused had reached the wedding function when a ritual was underway. The suspect lured the girl and took her to the construction house where he raped and killed her, Mishra said.