Jind: 13-yr-old among 4 arrested for gang-rape, murder

The Jind police have arrested three adults and a minor for their alleged involvement in the gang-rape of a 35-year-old woman and the murder of her five-year-old daughter on the night of April 22.

The accused have been identified as Hamid Khan, 46, Biru, 18, Shiva, 18, and a 13-year-old boy, who was allegedly involved in the murder but not the rape.

According to Amit Kharab, a spokesperson of the police, the three adult accused gang-raped both the woman and her daughter before strangling the five-year-old girl to death. “The minor boy was only involved in the murder and has been sent to a safe house, while the three adults have been taken on one-day police remand,” he added.

The medical examination of the victims in Sonepat on April 26 confirmed rape.

Police said that the three adult accused later confessed to the crime.

A senior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Hamid admitted to the rape and murder, claiming they killed the child after the woman used harsh words against him during an earlier altercation with her husband.

In her complaint, the woman recounted that on April 22, her husband had an argument with their neighbour, which led to a physical assault. The matter was reported to the police, and after mediation, they returned home. Later, the neighbour and three others allegedly abducted her daughter, strangled her with a rope, and dumped her body near a dustbin. The accused then returned to gang-rape the woman before leaving her unconscious near the same spot.

The family buried the girl’s body on April 24, but after the woman reported the crime, the police exhumed the body for an autopsy.

“Initially, the accused were charged with gang-rape and murder on April 24. Later on April 27, sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act were added to the case,” said an officer.