A 37-year-old man was arrested in connection with the rape and murder of a four-year-old girl, who had been missing for three days. Her body was discovered on Monday night in the Thippagondanahalli area of Ramanagara district, police reported.
The suspect, a relative of the victim, visited her house on July 20. He took the girl and another child to a local shop under the pretense of buying them ice cream. After returning the second child home, he allegedly took the victim on his scooter without the parents’ knowledge.
When the girl did not return home by late evening, her worried mother contacted the suspect, who refused to disclose the girl’s whereabouts. The mother then filed a missing person’s report with the Magadi police.
Police launched a search operation, reviewing CCTV footage that showed the suspect’s movements near Thippagondanahalli. The girl’s body was later found in the area, prompting an intensified search for the suspect, who was eventually arrested at a hideout in Kalasipalya, Bengaluru.
Magadi’s in-charge Inspector B.K. Prakash stated that the suspect has been charged under BNS Section 302 (murder), Section 135 (wrongful confinement), and POCSO Act charges. The girl’s body was sent for a post-mortem examination and subsequently handed over to her family for last rites on Tuesday, police said.
