GHAZIABAD: A 7-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped before being murdered in Ghaziabad, officials said on Saturday.The body was recovered from the basement of an under-construction mall in Ghaziabad’s Raj Nagar Extension in the early hours of Saturday.The deceased, whose parents are migrant labourers from Bihar, had been living temporary makeshifts near the construction site for the past couple of years. According to police officials, the Nandgram police station received information about the discovery of the body at around 1.00am on Saturday.Family members alleged that the suspects lured the young girl into the building by promising her chips, snacks, and soft drinks. They claim she was then subjected to a rape by two men before being killed and thrown down in Basement-2 of the structure.The father described a horrific scene upon discovering his daughter’s body. “There were no clothes on her body, and there was bleeding from her head and face. It seemed that her hands and legs were also broken. She was raped and murdered,” he said.Sources in the police told TOI that prima facie that injuries do not seem to be of a fall but she might have been struck the child’s head with an iron rod.Senior police officers, along with forensic experts, rushed to the crime scene overnight to collect evidence. Several individuals have already been detained for questioning as investigators piece together the timeline of the crime.Assistant commissioner of Police (ACP), Nandgram circle, Priyashri Pal, confirmed that a formal complaint has been received and a thorough probe is underway. “Senior officials inspected the crime scene, and a forensic team was also called in. Several persons have been picked up for questioning,” Pal said, adding that the autopsy report is awaited to conclusively establish the medical findings. She further added that police are investigating it as a case of rape and murder, and at present, we cannot say if it is a case of gang-rape. The body was found in the basement portion of the under-construction mall.A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)—including charges for kidnapping, murder, gang rape, and common intention—alongside stringent provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
