6-yr-old raped, murdered

A six-year-old girl has been raped and murdered by her 26-year-old  neighbour at Indira Nagar in Titwala.

Arvind Yadav, the accused, allegedly raped Shabana Madari, 6, who stayed at Indira Nagar with her family, after luring her with chocolates. The police said the accused came to the locality only three months ago.

Yadav, who worked as a supervisor at a nearby construction site, slowly became close to the Madari family. He would buy chocolates and other goodies for the child every day. “They played together and became very friendly in the due course of time, said Harish Kamte, a neighbour.

According to the police, Yadav visited Madari's residence on Friday morning and took her out on the pretext of buying her chocolates and biscuits.

When the child did not return even after two hours, her parents started searching for her. Maria's father Chand and neighbours informed the police station that hey had seen the girl going out with Yadav.

Soon, the police started their search operations. A team of police officers went to the nearby hills, where they spotted the accused. The police finally chased and caught him.

Subsequently, Maria's body was found at 12:45pm from a bush in the hill.

“The body was disfigured and was found in a kneeling position. Her spine had suffered three fractures, while the hipbone was completely broken,” said senior police inspector SG Shinde. Yadav has been remanded in police custody till Monday.