Man arrested for raping minor girl and killing her 8-yr-old cousin

New Delhi: A 22-year-old man, who allegedly raped a minor girl after she rejected his marriage proposal and murdered her eight-year-old cousin at their residence in northwest Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar area, has been arrested from Kanpur, police said today.

The accused, identified as Raj Kumar, a native of Bihar, worked here at a tandoor manufacturing unit and lived at the victim’s residence as paying guest, said police.

“He fled after the incident and as many as seven police teams chased him across towns and cities that include — Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Bulandshahr, Anupshaher, Jinjhoda, Bhiampur, Aligharh, Agra and Kanpur,” said DCP (Northwest) Vijay Singh.

He was finally arrested from a cement godown near Kanpur Central railway station on Friday, Singh added.

According to the police, the incident took place on the wee hours of November 14 when the accused entered the room where the teenage girl was sleeping with her 10-year-old brother and cousin.

Kumar first lifted the girl’s brother, who was in the same matress, and dropped him in his own room. The boy did not wake up. Kumar went back to the room again and allegedly raped the girl, during which the cousin woke up and rushed to rescue the girl.

Kumar then allegedly hit both of them – the girl and the cousin – with an iron rod, following which the eight-year-old boy died and the girl sustained severe injuries. Kumar fled the spot immediately.

The girl later told the police that Kumar had turned too possessive about her and said to her that “she cannot belong to anyone else” at the night of the incident, said a police official.

The incident came to light in the morning when the girl’s brother wake up in the morning, shocked by his surroundings, and went to check on his sister and cousin. He raised an alarm and the police was informed, police said.

The prime suspect was identified immediately and a case of rape, murder and attempt to murder was registered, police added.