Migrant worker from Jharkhand held for rape, murder of 7-year-old girl

Five days after he allegedly kidnapped, raped and murdered a seven-year-old girl from a ceramic factory in Morbi, a migrant worker from Jharkhand was arrested by police from the factory premises Saturday.

The 27-year-old accused, a widower, was employed at the same factory where the girl’s parents, who are from Madhya Pradesh, are working. He had allegedly lured the child with a chocolate before brutalising her, police said.

“He took the girl to a place away from the factory, so that no one could hear her cries for help. After sexually assaulting the child, he killed her fearing that people would come to know about his crime,” Subodh Odedra, Superintendent of Police, Morbi, said.

Police tracked his movement using CCTV camera footage, Odedra said. “After questioning other workers at the factory, we identified the accused,” he added.

A police officer investigating the case said the accused has been working in ceramic factories in Morbi for the last seven years. “His wife died in 2017 due to some illness. He has a girl, around seven years old, and a younger son,” the officer added.

The minor had gone missing on January 18 and the Morbi police had registered a case of kidnapping the following day. Her body was recovered from a deserted place at some distance from the factory premises Thursday, police said.

The accused was produced in a local court after he tested negative for Covid-19 and was sent to judicial custody. “Now, we shall file an application in the court to seek his police remand,” the investigating officer said.