A 19-year-old neighbor was nabbed by the Ujjain police on Saturday, within 24 hours of the report of rape and murder of a five-year-old girl under Mahakal police station in Ujjain.
The case, which was reported close on the heels of murder of a child in Tappal of Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh), has also caused widespread outrage.
The accused has been identified as Shiva Rao Maratha, who stayed close to the residence of the victim. Shiva, who worked with a flower and garlands shop near the famous Mahakal temple in the religious city, has confessed to the crime, superintendent of police of Ujjain, Sachin Atulkar, told THE WEEK.
The girl had been reported missing in the wee hours of Friday from her temporary home near a brick kiln in the Lalpul-Bhuki Mata locality of Ujjain. Her father, hailing from Agar district, works in the kiln.
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SP Sachin Atulkar, formed two special investigative teams to nab the accused after autopsy revealed rape and murder.
“We detained many suspects since Friday. When Shiva Maratha was questioned, he failed to give satisfactory replies and his statements could not be corroborated. Since he stayed close to the residence of the victim, he was questioned strictly, after which he confessed to his crime,” the SP said.
Shiva told the police that when he came back from work in wee hours of Friday, he went into the shanty of the victim where she was sleeping with other family members and took her to an agriculture field nearby.
He raped and murdered her by bludgeoning her with a brick on her face and head. Later, he threw the body in Kshipra River to hide his crime, he told the police.
