‘Drunkard’ behind child death at labour quarter

Ludhiana: The district police have arrested a 32-year-old man for the alleged rape and murder of a six-year-old girl who recently moved to the city from Bihar. The accused, a habitual drinker, reportedly lured the girl with candies before taking her to his third-floor rented room in a crowded labour quarter.
Police claim to have found out that after assaulting the girl, the suspect killed her and disposed of her body by wrapping it in a blanket and throwing it onto the tin roof of an adjacent office.Investigators revealed that the man had been drinking since the morning of the crime, and after committing the act, had locked his room and fled, hiding in a park near Metro Road. He was apprehended within 24 hours of the incident. The suspect, from Bihar originally, does labour for daily wages.

Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja stated that the accused had been living in Ludhiana for a couple of months with his wife and children. He often drank excessively and had assaulted his family previously, leading them to return to Bihar about two weeks prior. Consequently, he now lived alone. DCP Teja further reported that on Tuesday morning, the man had found the girl playing in the veranda and lured her into his room with candies.
The assault made the girl lost consciousness and he killed her subsequently. Fearing he could not carry her body out of the labour quarter without drawing attention, he wrapped it in a blanket and disposed of it from the roof. The girl’s grandmother had begun searching for her at that point after finding her missing, and during that hunt, she discovered the body on the roof of the adjoining factory.
Inspector Varinderpal Singh Uppal claimed based on preliminary evidence that the accused was familiar with the victim and had targeted her due to her vulnerability. Police had questioned all the residents of the labour quarter and found only the accused’s room locked after the crime, so he became a prime suspect. They registered a case against him under sections 103 (murder), 63 (rape), and 66 (causing death or resulting in persistent vegetative state) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as well as section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.
The labour quarter where this incidcent occurred houses 400-odd people in 90 rooms, with little safety and security because of close-quarter living.
Police had reviewed the details of all residents of these labour quarter to determine their whereabouts at the time of the incident. Additionally, they had requested a board of doctors to conduct an autopsy to confirm details of sexual assault and the cause of death.
This tragic incident highlights ongoing concerns about child safety and violence against minors in Ludhiana, prompting calls for stronger protective measures within communities. The incident has also highghted the need to educate children about strangers, teaching them to stay away from unfamiliar people and not to accept gifts or candies, for these could be the tricks of sexual predators.
There is also a need to monitor tjhe children’s play areas, especially in crowded neighborhoods or labour quarters, where there are no daycare facilities, and so the poor working-class parents have to leave their children unsupervised at home in order to go out and earn their daily bread, and these unattended kids are vulnerable.