A 10-year-old girl from a destitute family was kidnapped, raped and murdered by an app-based cab driver in Delhi’s Mehrauli area, police said on Monday. The accused was arrested within hours after the child’s family reported her missing.
According to police, the girl’s parents contacted authorities through a PCR call at around 5 am after they could not locate their daughter. Following the complaint, teams from Mehrauli Police launched an extensive search operation and scrutinised CCTV footage from across the area.
According to officials, the girl’s family alerted police through a PCR call around 5 am on Monday after she failed to return home. Mehrauli Police immediately launched a search operation and began scanning footage from hundreds of CCTV cameras to trace her movements.
The investigation soon led officers to a suspicious taxi driver. Acting swiftly on surveillance and technical inputs, police apprehended the suspect, identified as 25-year-old Bablu, an app-based cab driver, within four hours of receiving the complaint.
During questioning, the accused admitted to abducting the child from a footpath near CDR Chowk in Mehrauli. Police said he took the girl towards Gurugram, sexually assaulted her and later killed her.
Based on the accused’s disclosure, police recovered the victim’s body from a forested area in Mehrauli. The recovery confirmed the worst fears of the family, which had been desperately searching for the missing child.
The victim belonged to a migrant family from Bihar. After losing their rented accommodation, the family had reportedly been living on a pavement in the area. While her parents worked as daily-wage labourers, the 10-year-old sold balloons to supplement the family’s income. She was one of four siblings.
