A 12-year-old girl who was allegedly molested and thrown off the eighth floor of her building in Goregaon last month, died at the L.H. Hiranandani Hospital in Powai on Friday.
On June 29, the victim was allegedly molested by a 16-year-old boy staying in the same area, after which he threw her off the eighth floor of her building. The police have booked the boy and arrested his parents for allegedly trying to cover the matter up. The victim, meanwhile, was admitted to the hospital with severe head injuries and underwent two surgeries over the past five days.
The victim’s neighbours as well as police said she died on Friday morning. “We are adding an additional charge of murder against the juvenile accused in the wake of recent developments. We have sent the body for post-mortem examination to J.J. Hospital,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone XII) Dr. Vinay Kumar Rathod said.
Crowdfunding initiative
The victim was declared dead while friends of her family were appreciating the overwhelming support received citizens in raising funds for her treatment.
The crowdfunding initiative was taken up by Lalita Jadavala and Vijay Naidu. Mr. Naidu, who works for crowdfunding platform ImpactGuru, took the matter up with his employers and they raised ₹9.22 lakh in two days. On Friday afternoon, the page seeking donations for the victim’s treatment was updated with news of her death, to everyone’s dismay.
Apart from the murder charge, the accused has been charged with outraging a woman’s modesty under the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
After the boy told his parents about the incident, they allegedly deleted messages he exchanged with the victim and sent him to stay at a relative’s home till matters cooled down. They were arrested last week and charged with destruction of evidence under the Indian Penal Code.
