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A 30-YEAR-OLD man was arrested for allegedly raping and murdering a seven-year-old girl in Bhiwandi. The accused knew the girlās family and lured her away under the pretext of giving her sweets after she stepped out of her house to buy ice cream, police said.
According to the police, on Sunday, they found the body of the girl at a village in Bhiwandi. Police said her body was lying a few metres away from her house.
āThe girl stepped out after dinner on Saturday to buy ice cream and didnāt return. Her parents lodged a missing complaint on Sunday morning, after looking for her all night,ā said an officer linked to the investigation.
Police said the girlās body was disfigured as the accused had used a rock to bludgeon her to death. āHer head was bashed in with a heavy rock and her body was unclothed. Her body bore multiple injuries, including those of sexual assault, and was dumped in a bush near her house, which is used by villagers as a toilet,ā the officer said.
Police arrested the accused on Sunday night. āThe accused would visit the shop that the girlās family operated out of their house. On Saturday, when she stepped out of the house, the accused promised her two ice creams and some chocolates and took her to a desolate spot, where he raped her,ā the officer said.
Police said the accused was last spotted going towards the girlās house at the time the girl went missing. āHe kept changing his story, but in the end he confessed. He said when the girl started making a lot of noise, he took a big rock and hit her on the head multiple times,ā said a senior officer.