New Delhi, OCT 16 :
A three-year-old girl was allegedly raped and choked to death in Gujarat’s Surat by a neighbour, police said on Tuesday. The incident comes days after a man from Bihar was arrested for raping a 14-month-old in Himmatnagar district, sparking violence against migrant workers in some areas of the western state.
“The girl went missing on the night of October 13. The body, wrapped inside a polythene bag, was found from a locked room of a neighbour on October 15 evening,” an official with the police in Limbayat,a zonal down in Surat district, said on condition of anonymity.
Police said the room on the ground floor of a two-storey building was occupied by a man from Bihar, Anil Yadav, who is said to be around 18 or 20 years ld. He has been absconding since Saturday night.
The girl lived with her parents and other two siblings on the first floor of the same building, the police said. “CCTV footage revealed that the girl had not gone outside the society gate. This led us to do an extensive search within the society premises. On October 15 evening, police broke open Yadav’s house to find the body,” the official said.
The girl’s family said on Tuesday that they will not accept her body from the hospital until the suspect was arrested. The family members, supported by their community, have been sitting on a protest outside Simer Hospital demanding action against the suspect.
“Two teams have left for Bihar in search of the accused. Police have been talking with the family to accept the body,” the official said.
Surat, a hub forthe diamond and textile industry with a huge population of migrant workers, has been rocked by multiple cases of rape and murder of minors recently. Two five-year-old girls were raped in two separate incidents in September. Both have survived. An 11-year-old was raped and murdered in April.
