Girl kidnapped, murdered, assaulted

By Prashant Pandey

NEW DELHI, AUG. 9. In a bizarre case here today, an 11-year-old girl was kidnapped from her uncle's house, smothered to death, and then criminally assaulted allegedly by a distant cousin of hers.

The girl, a Class VI student of a government school, had been living with her uncle, Ramphal Dabas -- a retired Border Security Force functionary -- for the past two years. Her father is a resident of Kehar village near Delhi.

The police this morning received a phone call around 4-45 a.m. that some burglars had broken into Ramphal's house at Uttam Nagar and had taken away his niece.

``The family found the almirahs broken open and some cash missing. After some time, they discovered to their shock that the girl too was missing,'' said a neighbour whose husband informed the police.

A search was launched immediately by the police along with the family. At daybreak, the girl's body was found some distance away from the house, lying face down. The dress was intact but there were injury marks near the eyes.

According to the police, preliminary investigations revealed that Ram Niwas, a nephew of Ramphal, had come over for dinner late on Wednesday night in an inebriated state. Ramphal strongly objected to this and scolded Ram Niwas. A verbal duel ensued after which Ram Niwas left in a huff.

Ram Niwas -- son of Ramphal's sister Omwati who lives in Sonepat near Delhi -- is employed in a factory run by Mukesh, son-in-law of Ramphal.

Intent on revenge, Ram Niwas apparently kept snooping around the house, said the Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), Mr Kewal Singh. ``Well past midnight, he came to the house and found that someone had left the door open by mistake.''

Ram Niwas got inside and broke open the almirahs. Ramphal and his wife were at the time sleeping on the terrace. The only ones sleeping downstairs were the 11-year-old girl and Shamsher, Ramphal's son.

"Hearing the noise, the girl woke up. She apparently saw Ram Niwas stealing things from the almirah and told him that she would report to her uncle. An enraged Ram Niwas covered her mouth with his hand and dragged her outside,'' said Mr Kewal Singh. All the while, Shamsher was fast asleep.

Ram Niwas allegedly took the girl outside and smothered her. When she turned immobile, he criminally assaulted her, the police said.

The police later arrested Ram Niwas and claimed to have recovered from him all the cash and other stuff stolen from the house. He has been booked for burglary, kidnapping, murder and criminal assault.

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