Lucknow: Minor boy found murdered at 1090 crossing, sodomy suspected

A 10-year-old balloon seller was murdered allegedly after being sodomised or during sodomy attempt and his body was recovered barely 500 metres away from his house at Balu Adda in Hazratganj area on Tuesday afternoon.

The boy was missing since Monday night and his body was found lying on the pavement inside the rotary at the busy 1090 crossing. The boy’s family and other locals staged demonstration near the crime scene demanding ex-gratia and stern action against the culprit. The police force was deployed in the area and at the boy’s house apprehending further agitation by locals.

Additional superintendent of police (ASP) east Sarvesh Mishra said the postmortem report has confirmed that the boy was strangulated. He said doctors have also preserved samples suspecting sodomy or sodomy attempt.

He said the boy used to sell balloons on the roadside between Samtamoolak crossing and 1090 crossing and was missing since he had left his house near Balu Adda at around 6pm on Monday. He said the boy often used to sleep on the pavement inside the rotary.

He said the boy’s mother worked as sanitary worker after the death of his father several years ago while his elder brother also used to sell balloons.

The ASP said the boy’s body was recovered after a passer-by informed the police about it at around 3pm. He said froth was found coming out of his mouth and a vest like cloth was found wrapped around his neck. He said the boy was wearing underwear and vest when he left his house but his vest was found missing and the cloth found wrapped around the neck was not his vest.

Mishra said circumstances suggested that the boy could have died on Monday night and the body kept lying there till Tuesday afternoon, but it is unbelievable that the body kept lying at such busy rotary without being noticed by anybody for so many hours.

The ASP said the police are trying to retrieve footages of CCTV cameras installed near the 1090 crossing and trying to ascertain the sequence of event.

The boy’s mother said she came to know about the boy’s disappearance when she returned from night duty on Tuesday morning and started searching for him. She said she could not find him anywhere and was planning to approach the police when somebody informed about the body lying at the 1090 crossing. She ascertained the boy’s identity as her son when she reached there.

Suspect visible in CCTV Footage

ASP Sarvesh Mishra said the boy is visible around the rotary at around 10.42pm on Monday and thereafter he slept there. He said one person wearing the same vest that was found tried around the boy’s neck was spotted entering the rotary at around 12.50am and thereafter he left the place after one hour (1.45am). He said the findings suggest that the same person murdered the boy. He said efforts are on to identify the man and trace him.