‘Friends’ gang-rape, murder 14-yr-old in Haldwani

Nainital: A Haldwani-based 14-year-old girl Class VIII student who went missing on September 29 was allegedly gang-raped and murdered by two of her “friends”. The two men have been arrested and booked for murder and rape and under provisions of the POCSO Act.

According to senior police officers, CCTV footage revealed that the girl from Banbhoolpura area was seen in the company of her friends, Zeeshan, 18, and Danish, 19, on the day she went missing.

“The duo was taken into custody and during questioning, they broke down and confessed to the crime. The duo led us to the crime spot and we found the girl’s body in a drain,” said a police officer.

Police learnt that the girl was in a relationship with Zeeshan and was putting pressure on him to give up his smack (black tar heroin) addiction. Danish took them out in a bid to patch up between Zeeshan and the girl. However, the couple quarreled again. Zeeshan slapped the girl, rendering her unconscious.

“Two of them then allegedly raped her and then used her scarf to strangle her. They stole her phone and dumped the body into the drain,” said Haldwani circle officer Shantanu Parashar.

Both have been charged under IPC section 302 (murder) and 376 (rape) as well as provisions of the POCSO Act.