Younger sister’s account helps cops nab man for 13-yr-old’s rape-murder in Nashik

NASHIK: Police arrested a 30-year-old man for allegedly raping and murdering a 13-year-old girl in Chopda taluka of Jalgaon district on Saturday evening.

He was arrested based on the description provided by the deceased girl's younger sister, who witnessed the crime. The man had killed the 13-year-old by hitting her on the head with a stone in a field.

The arrested man originally hails from Madhya Pradesh but has been staying with his parents in Chopda. The Chopda city police said, a couple of days ago, the man had come to his sister's residence, which is close to the farm that the girl's family had taken for tilling.

On Saturday, at 5pm, he was returning to his parent's home. At the same time, the victim and her younger sister were returning from the field. The man saw the sisters and dragged the older one into a farm and sexually assaulted her. He then smashed her head with a stone.

The younger sister, who witnessed the crime, ran to the village and alerted her parents.

Residents of the village immediately rushed to the spot and found the girl severely injured. She was taken to the rural hospital in Chopda, where she was declared brought dead.

Soon after getting the information, police rushed to the spot and got the description of the suspect from the victim's sister. Based on her description, the accused man was arrested within a couple of hours. He was found in the adjoining village.

Inspector Madhukar Salve, of the Chopda city police station, said, "The victim's sister identified the accused man. His medical examination has been done and necessary samples have been sent for forensic investigation to Nashik."

On a complaint lodged by the victim's father, the Chopda city police have registered an FIR for offences punishable under sections 65 (punishment for rape in certain cases), 66 (punishment for causing death or resulting in persistent vegetative state of victim) and 103(1) (punishment for murder) among other sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and other sections of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The accused man was produced before a court on Sunday, which remanded him in police custody till Sept 13.