A 25-year-old daily wage labourer allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered a nine-and-a-half-year-old girl from his neighbourhood in Maharashtra’s Pune district, police said on Wednesday.The incident took place on Tuesday afternoon in Junnar tehsil. The accused has been taken into custody, police said.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar called the incident “extremely shocking and unfortunate” and directed the police to conduct a thorough probe and ensure stringent action against the culprit.
Pawar said she would urge Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to have the case tried in a fast-track court.
Pune Rural Superintendent of Police (SP) Sandip Singh Gill said the accused and the victim knew each other.
“Both the accused and victim lived in the same neighbourhood and belong to the same community,” he said.
The man went to the girl’s house in the afternoon while she was watching television and lured her away on the pretext of offering her a guava. He allegedly took the girl to a farm nearby, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her and later killed her, Gill said.
When the girl was not found in the evening, her family searched for her and later lodged a missing complaint.
“During the probe and analysis of the CCTV footage of the area, it was found that the girl was with the accused. Subsequently, the accused was detained. During interrogation, he confessed and showed us the (crime) spot in the sugarcane field,” the official said.
The body was later recovered and sent for an autopsy.
“A case has been registered, and the accused has been taken into custody. Further investigation is underway,” Gill added.
Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar assured strict action against the culprit. She spoke to SP Gill over the phone and reviewed the investigation into the incident. She directed the police administration to conduct a transparent and thorough probe and ensure stringent action against the accused.
Calling the incident “extremely shocking and unfortunate”, Pawar, in a statement, said the police had acted promptly and detained a suspected youth, while the investigation was being carried out on priority.
“I will make a special request to Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis to have the case tried in a fast-track court so that the accused is punished at the earliest,” she stated.
The government stood firmly with the victim’s family, Pawar said, adding that she would soon visit the village to meet the bereaved family.
