7 Year Old Gangraped Killed Falls Through Shaft From 3rd Floor To Basement Of Upcoming Mall In Ghaziabad

A seven-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by two persons and hit with an iron road on the head in Ghaziabad late Friday, before she fell through the shaft from the third floor of an under-construction mall into the basement. Her body was recovered from the basement around 1 am on Saturday.

Later in the day, a man was arrested and a juvenile detained in connection to the incident, said ACP (Officiating), Nandgram, Priyashi Pal.

DCP (City and Trans Hindon) Dhawal Jaiswal said the two were identified through CCTV camera footage, which captured them leading the girl away to the under-construction building.

“She was raped on the third floor of the building, after which the accused hit her on the head with an iron rod. She then fell through the shaft into the basement, as there was nothing to hold onto,” he added.

Pal said that based on a complaint filed by the victim’s family, the accused were booked under sections of rape, kidnapping and murder of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita as well as under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Police said the girl was assaulted inside a small, dark and damp corner close to a shaft on the third floor. When The Indian Express visited the spot, the crime scene, marked with white chalk by the police, had bloodstains amid construction debris and discarded plastic bottles.

“Around 1 am, Nandgram police received information about the recovery of the body. It was taken into custody and a post-mortem examination conducted. A Forensic Science Laboratory team also collected evidence from the crime scene,” Pal said.

She added the victim’s family members, originally from Bihar, work as labourers at the under-construction building and reside in nearby jhuggis.

Both accused resided in the same jhuggi cluster, said another officer.

He added that after a four-hour search, in which his neighbours also participated, around midnight, other labourers arrived to punch in for the night shift at the mall. Noticing his distress, they also joined the search effort.

“Around 40 of us started searching, when a painter who was passing by told us that he saw a girl along with two persons going towards the building. We then spoke to the mall’s security guard. He told us that he had heard a girl screaming ‘mummy,’ but when he called after the voice, nobody answered, So, he came back to his post,” a neighbour said. He added that in the meantime, police were informed, which later found the girl in the basement of the under-construction building.

At the cremation ground, the girl’s mother was heard repeatedly saying – “She was my only girl, and now she is gone.”

“Please take me with you as well,” she said while calling for her dead daughter.