Gurgaon ‘killer’ teenager sexually abused minor girl, say cops | Gurgaon News

GURGAON: A boy arrested for the murder of his nine-year-old neighbour in connection with an apparent theft attempt at a public housing complex in Sector 107 on July 1 allegedly sexually assaulted the girl before strangling her with a scarf and setting the body ablaze in her house.

Charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act – the first to be registered in the city under the newly introduced BNS – were added to the case after the boy made fresh revelations before the juvenile court counsellors on the last day of his remand on Thursday. “Though there was no confirmation of any penetrative attack by the teenager, he claimed to have touched the minor inappropriately,” said ACP Naveen Sharma, investigating officer in the case.

The teenager had earlier stated that he went to his neighbour’s flat in an adjoining building to steal jewellery as he was under pressure to repay a loan of Rs 20,000 he had taken from a friend for gambling. He also claimed that he did not go to the house with the intention of killing the girl but panicked when things did not go the way he wanted.

“Today, he told the counselors that when he reached the girl’s house, he asked the girl to fetch him a glass of water. In the process, he touched her inappropriately but soon asked for another glass. When the girl was in the kitchen, the boy, who knew the house well, found the keys to the cupboard and took the jewellery. The boy said when the girl saw what he was doing and started screaming, he tried to silence her. He strangled her with a scarf because she would not stop screaming,” the ACP said.

According to police, the teenager burned the body with crushed camphor. He had apparently learned this method from a Hindi crime series.

He also identified several shops where he wanted to sell the stolen jewelry, the ACP said.

The boy, who had just turned 16 at the time of the crime, does not fall under the provisions of the juvenile criminal law, which allow juvenile offenders to be treated like adults when committing serious crimes, because the age limit for this is 16 to 18 years.

“He stole bicycles and money to pay off past gambling debts. He once even tried to run away from home when his father scolded him for his poor performance in school,” a police officer said.

The boy was handed over to the custody of JJB in Faridabad on Thursday. The case is scheduled to be heard in court on July 17.

(The identity of the victim has not been disclosed to protect her privacy, in accordance with Supreme Court guidelines in sexual assault cases.)