Missing minor’s body found floating in drain near Jamia Nagar

THE 4-YEAR-OLD’S BODY WAS FOUND WITH A BROWN CLOTH TIED AROUND HER NECK

NEW DELHI: The semi-naked body of a four-year-old girl was recovered from a drain in south Delhi’s Batla House near Jamia Nagar on Sunday afternoon, almost 33 hours after she went missing from home.

Police said the girl’s body was dumped in the drain after she was strangled by her killer. Though the girl’s autopsy report is still awaited, police have not ruled out sexual assault.

The girl had gone missing at about 3 am on Saturday after which a case of kidnapping was registered at Jamia Nagar police station.

A senior police officer said the matter came to light at around 12.30 pm when a local Jamia Nagar resident called the police control room and informed that a body was floating in the drain near a mosque in Batla House locality. A police team immediately reached the spot and learnt that the body was first discovered by a group of electricians who were working on a transformer.

“The electricians noticed the semi-nude body of minor girl and immediately raised an alarm. Locals gathered near the drain by the time police personnel arrived and fished out the girl’s body,” said the senior officer adding that the girl was wearing a black sweater and did not have clothes on the lower part of her body.

Eyewitnesses said that a brown cloth was also found tied around her neck. The family members, who stay in a colony nearby, were informed about the incident and the body was sent to AIIMS for autopsy.

Investigators questioned the girl’s family members, who claimed that they last saw the child sleeping with her grandparents. “At around 3.30 am, her mother woke up and found her missing. They looked for the child in the locality and finally lodged a missing complaint at around 7.30 am,” the officer said. Her father works as a mechanic and was scheduled to leave for Dubai with his family on Tuesday, he added.

“I live in Kolkata along with my wife. We had come to meet my son and his family. We had asked her to sleep with us in the room which is outside the house and it remains open at night,” the grandfather said.