New Delhi (The Hawk): According to authorities, a three-year-old kid who was reported missing from the capital six days ago was discovered dead in a sugarcane field in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
The accused child, who has been apprehended and is also the victim's neighbour, is purportedly accused of abducting the minor with the purpose to sexually assault him, according to the Delhi Police.
The three-year-old boy's decapitated body was discovered in Meerut next to the Meerut-Pauri highway by a local farmer and his friend, who had gone to work in the field on Tuesday morning. They observed the child's corpse being consumed by stray dogs.
On November 30, the accused and the child vanished from the Chitra Vihar Jhuggi neighbourhood in east Delhi, close to Preet Vihar. A kidnapping case was reported to the Preet Vihar police station. During the inquiry, efforts were made to check the area's children as well as potential residences for the accused boy, but no leads were discovered, according to a police officer.
"On Tuesday, information on the accused's arrival in Delhi and current whereabouts with him at his Jagatpuri home was obtained from the accused's uncle. The accused was then brought into custody when a police squad was dispatched to the scene, according to Amrutha Guguloth, the deputy commissioner of police (East).
"When questioned, he (the accused) admitted that he had abandoned the infant in a Meerut sugarcane field. A team was then dispatched to Meerut at the request of the accused boy, but by that time, local police from the Incholi police station had already found a dead body without its head and limbs. The corpse's head was also discovered nearby, and the local police informed us that the body had been taken to the mortuary," the policeman continued.
"The accused has been taken into custody, and the case is still being investigated. The paperwork taken from his home proved that he was older than 18 years old. The officer stated that additional investigation was underway and that legal action was being taken.
According to the police, the accused has not yet admitted to killing the youngster. The FIR now includes the murder-related sections.
Following the localization of the news of the child's murder on Tuesday, a protest was also seen outside the Preet Vihar police station, which also caused a significant traffic bottleneck.
Locals and family members organised a protest outside the police station to demand justice for the victim while shouting anti-police slogans.
(Inputs from Agencies)