Eight-year-old strangled for resisting rape in Delhi's Vasant Vihar

An eight-year-old girl was strangled, and her body was dumped in an army cantonment area on Tuesday, December 24, after she resisted a rape bid by a teenager living in her neighbourhood in south-west Delhi's Vasant Vihar, police said on Tuesday.

The girl, who lived in the army servant quarters, had been missing from her house since Monday evening, December 23. Revealing further details, the police said that the girl was found dead with a noose around her neck in a vacant house in Shankar Vihar Military Station on December 24 morning. 

According to an officer, the accused, who turned out to be a 19-year-old youth from the same neighbourhood, was identified with the help of the CCTV camera installed on the campus and was arrested. His parents also work as servants at an army officer's house, reported by PTI.

The officer further said, "During interrogation, the accused revealed that he lured the victim, who used to call him brother, to an isolated house in the locality and tried to force himself on her. When she resisted, he strangled her." Additionally, the accused also tried to mislead the police by tying a scarf around her neck and trying to pass it off as a case of suicide. Her body was found near a window in the room, he added.

It is learnt that the girl is survived by her parents and an older brother. A neighbour told PTI that the girl was playing outside her house when she went missing around 6 pm Monday, December 23. "Her parents informed the army officers after failing to find her. The army personnel also helped the family in finding the girl," he said.

Further, the officer said that around 1 am, her parents called the local police. Around 8 am, the body of the girl was discovered by the locals and the police. The family members and other residents held a protest at the main road near Shankar Vihar, demanding justice for the victim and her family.

The angry residents raised questions over the matter of safety of their children inside the army campus. Additionally, they also tried to stop the traffic, who were later pacified after the assurance of action by the local police.

Another senior officer said soon after the police got the call, a case of kidnapping was registered on Tuesday. A team of local police was formed and the search was conducted. The sections of murder and others will be added to the First Information Report (FIR), he said. The girl's body was handed over to her family after the postmortem but the report is still awaited, he added, PTI reported.