Saadatganj horror: Minor raped for revenge on father

LUCKNOW: It was revenge that led to the rape and brutal murder of the six-year-old girl in Saadatganj on Sunday by an acquaintance of her own father.
The accused, Arafat, wanted to take revenge on the child’s father because he held him responsible for his separation from his wife, claimed police on Tuesday based on the confessional statement of the accused.
“Arafat allegedly strangulated the girl after rape as he feared that she would tell her parents. He was not sure that she had died, hence he slit her throat with a kitchen knife. He hid the body below the bed and had planned to dispose it in the night,” said Saadatganj SHO Mahesh Pal Singh.
Arafat, who lives in a single-room rented house a few blocks away from the house of the victim, told police that he had been working with the victim’s father for the past nine years. A distant relative of the victim’s father was also with them.
The girl used to call Arafat ‘mama’ because her mother used to treat the accused as a brother. Arafat’s wife was also a distant relative of the girl’s mother.
According to the SHO, Arafat told police that the victim’s father had started visiting his wife frequently when she was in hospital in May for the delivery of their second daughter. A month later, she left Arafat and went to her maternal house.
“Arafat believed his wife and the girl’s father were having an affair and that made his wife leave. He did not speak of it to anyone and planned revenge,” the SHO said.
Relatives and neighbours told police that Arafat’s wife left because he used to beat her regularly after getting drunk.
On Sunday, a drunk Arafat went to the victim’s house around 4pm when she was with her grandmother. He lured her to come with him to his house, where he sexually assaulted and killed her.
Later, Arafat even joined the victim’s father in search of her. When the girl’s grandmother revealed that Arafat had come to the house in the afternoon, he slipped away. This raised suspicion in the mind of the victim’s father who then with the help of police raided Arafat’s house and found the body, officer added.
ASP west Vikas Chandra Tripathi said, “We are trying our best for quick justice in the case by filing a chargesheet within a week in the fast-track court.”
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)