The Saki Naka police on Saturday recovered the body of the 10-year-old boy who was allegedly murdered by a teenager living in his neighbourhood on Thursday evening.
The police have also booked another minor from the area, who allegedly lent the main accused his cell phone to make a ransom call to the victim’s father.
The victim, who lived with his parents in Saki Naka, went missing on Thursday evening. On Friday night, the police booked the 15-year-old accused for his murder after the latter allegedly confessed to the crime. The accused, in his confession, told the police where he disposed of the body.
“The accused told us that after the murder, he stuffed the victim’s body in a suitcase and threw it into a nearby sewage drain. We scoured the drain and found the suitcase, with the body in it, around one kilometre away from where it was thrown,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone X) Navinchandra Reddy said.
The body was taken to Rajawadi Hospital, where it was identified by the boy’s parents, and then sent for post-mortem examination.
The police said the accused, in his confession, has said he took the victim to his house when his parents were out and sexually assaulted him. When the victim threatened to tell his parents about the assault, the accused strangled him to death, the police said.
“It was only after the victim was dead that the accused realised what he had done. He then searched his house for a suitcase big enough to hold the body and threw it in the sewage drain. He also realised that he would be under suspicion as the victim was last seen with him, and hence he borrowed a friend’s cell phone to make a fake ransom call. He told the boy’s father that the victim would be returned to him safe and sound in exchange for ₹5 lakh,” an officer with the Saki Naka police said.
Inquiries later established that the accused’s friend, who is 14 years old, knew about the murder but did not report the matter to the authorities.
Mr. Reddy said, “We are awaiting reports of the post-mortem examination to confirm the accused’s claims of sexual assault. Both the accused have been charged and sent to the juvenile remand home in Dongri.”
The police have booked the accused for unnatural sexual assault, murder and attempted destruction of evidence under the Indian Penal Code along with sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, officers said.
