The five-year-old girl burnt to death by a ‘drunk' labourer the previous day at Jeedimetla was not Bhavani as believed earlier but Niharika from Sanathnagar, the police said on Wednesday.
Niharika, daughter of car driver Nagarjuna and Padma, went missing from Sunday after stepping out of her house in Vivekanandanagar of Borabanda. Her parents approached the Sanathnagar police who registered a case of missing girl and were looking for the girl, the Balanagar ACP, S. Damoder, said.
Unclear
It is not yet clear how the girl fell in the trap of the accused, D. Vijay, but the latter took her to a vacant single room house in Mahadevpur. He wrapped a bed linen around her, sprinkled kerosene and set her afire. By the time residents of the locality came to the girl's rescue, she suffered 90 per cent burns and died an hour later while undergoing treatment in a hospital.
Since the house in which the girl was burnt belonged to a woman, Sujatha, locals believed the victim was latter's daughter. “However, the labourer during interrogation said the girl was not Bhavani as all believed after which we started searching for details of missing girls of similar age only to realise she was Niharika,” the ACP explained.
Polio-affected
Niharika was affected by polio on her right hand and leg. The victim's face got burnt beyond recognition but the car driver recognised she was his daughter after examining her right leg and hand. While the victim's identity was confirmed, mystery shrouded the motive behind the killing.
Investigators said the possibility of Vijay abducting the girl after finding her lonely on the road or near her house cannot be ruled out. But it is yet to be ascertained as to why he burnt her to death.
