Punjab: Man sodomises, strangles 4.5-year-old to death in Ludhiana

LUDHIANA: A 32-year-old man allegedly sodomized a 4.5-year-old nephew of his friend and later strangled him to death in Ludhiana on Sunday evening.
After the incident the accused also kept on searching for the boy with his family however later on the police found the accused taking the boy along in the CCTV footage following which he was apprehended.
The incident occurred in a hosiery factory where the boy used to live with his parents. His parents work in the same hosiery factory where as the accused works in a neighbouring factory. The accused is a close friend of boy’s uncle (father’s younger brother) and thus was familiar with the boy also.
Boy’s mother stated that at around 5pm she saw her son last playing outside the factory who suddenly went missing. She kept on searching to him for about one and a half hour however to no avail. Thereafter she called her husband who had gone to their hometown in Bihar. Her husband asked her to lodge a police complaint.
The police reached the spot after getting the information.
Inspector Kulwant Singh said, “We searched for the boy however could not find him. The we scanned the CCTVs installed in the factory which captured the accused taking the boy on the first floor of the factory, however he came downstairs alone. We rushed upstairs and found the dead body of the boy under the heap of fabric.”
The accused who was present at the spot tried to escape however the police nabbed him.
Inspector added that the prime facie suggests that the accused sodomiesd the boy and the strangled him to death. Further the autopsy report will ascertain the cause of death.
The police also found a glass of milk and snacks near the dead body and it is suspected that the accused lured him with snacks and milk to take upstairs.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect his privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)