Death of 10-yr-old girl in Panchkula: Body of victim’s father recovered

A DAY after the body of a 10-year-old was recovered from Bandar Ghati in Panchkula, her father — the prime suspect in the case — was also found dead on Monday at the railway tracks near Mubarakpur chowki of Mohali.

Police suspect it to be a case of suicide and said it appeared that the father killed his daughter and then took his life.

A source told The Indian Express that the minor girl was raped before being killed. All injuries on the body are ante-mortem, the source said. A formal report of post-mortem would be made available on Tuesday, the police said.

No senior police officer, including DCP Mohit Handa and Inspector Arvind of Chandimandir Police station under whose jurisdiction the case falls,, were available to comment despite repeated attempts.

ASI Rajinder Singh Dhillon at the Muburakpur police post of Mohali said, “I was first informed of a person’s dead body on the railway tracks around 12.30 pm today. It prima facie looks like a case of suicide. We found one bottle of liquor, two bottles of water, a wallet which had all credentials, including Pan Card, Aadhaar card, ATM card, voter ID along with a mobile phone which was wet and not functional. The body is completely battered with a train having passed over it.”

The exact time of his death could not be ascertained. The body was sent to the civil hospital of Derabassi where a post-mortem will be conducted Tuesday.

A police official said, “We suspect the involvement of father in whatever happened with his daughter. We are currently investigating all angles and would have a definitive timeline of events by tomorrow.”

ACP Raj Kumar said, “The family would fall under the lower middle class. The husband and wife were estranged and living separately in the same colony of Panchkula. While the mother lived with her family, the husband lived alone and earned his living as a tuition teacher. The duo had an understanding between them wherein the daughter would meet his father on weekends and stay with her mother otherwise.”

While probing the case, a location trace of the accused’s phone had led the police to Kurukshetra where his last location had been identified on Sunday after which the phone was switched off. At least one search party is looking for his connection there.

The disfigured body of the minor girl was found in the jungle area of Bandar Ghati near the dumping ground of Panchkula in the early hours of Sunday. The body was spotted by a PCR vehicle of the Panchkula police around 9.30 am.

As per the complaint filed by a police official who first spotted the body, the face of the dead minor girl was completely disfigured. The girl had been found with bloodstains around her nose and mouth but no fatal injuries.

As per a rough timeline of events made available by Panchkula police, the minor girl had been with her family till about 3.30 pm on Saturday. She had left her house with her father.