Bengaluru: A devastating incident has shaken the town of Magadi in Ramanagar district around 30 kilometers from here , a 4-year-old girl was abducted, raped, and murdered by her relative, Imran Khan. The child’s body was found near Thippagondanahalli on Monday night, three days after she went missing.
According to the police, Imran Khan, a resident of Gauripalya, Bengaluru and a relative of the child’s family, was arrested under the POCSO Act. He had been frequenting the child’s home and had taken her to a shop on July 20, where he bought her an ice cream.
Again at around 5 pm , he took her again in his scooter luring to provide one more ice cream. Then he took the girl to Tippagondanahalli around 10 kilometers from Magadi and allegedly raped her and murdered her by strangulating her. The accused fled from the scene after the incident .
When the mother found her daughter missing , she called Imran as she last seen with him. But Imran told he left her in front of house and came to Bengaluru. Then he hung up and switched off his phone.
The Magadi police who registered a man missing case launched investigation. Upon verifying near by CCTV footages police found the girl was travelling with Imran in scooter. Upon searching in near by areas for two days the naked body of the girl was found under a huge rock in Tippagondahalli on Monday night at 7 pm.
Immediately the police swung into action managed to arrest the accused on Monday morning from Kalasipalya in Bengaluru. The accused confessed the crime during enquiry.
The autopsy of the body conducted at Raja Rajeshwari hospital in Bengaluru on Tuesday and handed over to family members. The incident sparked widespread outrage in the town.
On Tuesday, more than one thousand people staged a large-scale protest, demanding that the accused be hanged or should be encountered by police. . Hundreds of people, including women, took out a protest march on the main street condemning the heinous act.
‘’The accused with an intention of rape the girl came to Magadi from Bengaluru as he has no work in Magadi ‘’ Magadi in charge police inspector B K Prakash told Organiser. We booked him under BNS section 103 (murder) 135(wrongful confinement) and POCSO charges ‘’ The accused took the victim along with another child to near by shop in his scooter , provided ice cream to both. Later he left another 3 year old girl child at home and took the victim in his scooter and commited the crime. We checked CCTV footages first as he was prime suspect in the case . Initially we thought he might kidnapped the girl but the body was found at night confirmed the miscreants heinous act. We immediately raided his hideout and arrested him. We verifying whether the miscreant involved in similar crime earlier, ‘’ he added.
He was produced before Magadi Judicial magistrate first class court on Tuesday which remanded him to judicial custody.
