7-year-old's body found with eyes gouged out, tongue chopped off

A seven-year-old boy was found dead, with his eyes gouged out and tongue chopped off, three days after he went missing from near his residence in southeast Delhi's Harkesh Nagar area. Police said the boy was killed for resisting sexual assault by a 21-year-old man, who has been arrested.

At around 2 pm on Monday, the Class 1 student left home to buy a packet of chips, but never returned. His family members approached the Okhla police, who, along with locals, launched an extensive search.

"Initial probe revealed that the child was last seen with one Sandeep Singh alias Dangar, a resident of the same locality," said DCP southeast, Chinmoy Biswal, "Singh was traced to his brother-in-law's home in Noida." Police say he broke down during interrogation and confessed to kidnapping and murdering the boy on Monday when he resisted his sexual attempts. "Sandeep led the police to Gunda Nallah in Okhla Phase III, where he had dumped the body," the DCP said.

The child's father is a labourer and his mother works as domestic help. He was the eldest of three siblings.