Ghaziabad: A man accused of raping and killing a four-year-old girl was shot in both legs by Ghaziabad police during an encounter in the early hours of Wednesday.The accused, 24-year-old Gaurav, told police that after murdering the girl, he wiped his blood-stained hands with a handkerchief and hid it in the bushes in the Nandgram area, where the crime took place. A police team took him to the crime scene for recovery, but the accused allegedly fired at police with an illegal weapon he had previously concealed. Police claimed to have retaliated in self defence.On Monday night, the accused, who was the girl’s neighbour, lured her to an isolated location, raped her and bludgeoned her to death by repeatedly hitting her head with a brick. Her body was found in the bushes about 500 metres from home.Nandgram assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Ziauddin Ahmad said that during questioning, the accused, a daily wager, revealed that he was afraid that the girl would identify him if she were alive.“Police retaliated in self defence, in which the accused was shot in both legs. The illegal weapon and cartridges were recovered from the accused. He was sent to the district hospital in Ghaziabad for treatment. He is stable now,” the officer added.According to a senior police officer, Gaurav took the girl to a local market where they ate samosa and jalebi. Then he purchased a few lollipops and, while returning home, took her to an isolated place. Police also recovered some lollipops from the accused’s pocket.The autopsy found 11 injury marks on the child’s body, including three blows to the head, signs of strangulation, bite marks, and injuries to her genitalia. “During questioning, he confessed to the crime and said he killed the girl so that no one would know about the crime,” the officer saidAn FIR was registered under sections 103 (murder) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offenders) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police said provisions of rape, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, and SC/ST Act would also be added.The girl’s father, also a daily wager, lived with his three children — two sons aged 12 and 10, apart from the four-year-old girl. According to him, the child was playing outside the house around 6pm when the accused took her away, saying he would buy her chocolate.“When I returned from work around 7pm, my daughter was missing. Some children told me the neighbour (the accused) had taken her to get chocolate. I went to his house, but he was not there. I checked nearby shops, but no one could tell me anything about him,” the father said.He said relatives and neighbours then joined the search. Around 8.45pm, they found the accused in an isolated farm in the village.“When I asked where my daughter was, he told me to go ahead and I would find her,” the father said.A short distance away, the family found the child grievously injured and oozing blood from the head. Police were called, but the accused had fled home by then. He was later arrested near his house.
