Police arrest neighbor for murder of 13-year-old girl during robbery in southwest Delhi

NEW DELHI: Two days after a 13-year-old girl was murdered in Southwest Delhi's Dabri, police arrested the accused, identified as Mohammad Anas, a neighbour of the victim. According to the police, Anas went to the girl's house to steal, but when she saw him, he strangled her and stole a mobile phone and tablet.

He sold the stolen items to another person to fund his drug addiction. Police traced the buyer, who revealed that Anas sold him the phone, leading to the accused's arrest.Police said the murder was reported on Thursday, and during the inquiry, officers found that a few electronic items, including a mobile phone and a tablet, were missing. "Technical surveillance led to the stolen mobile, and the mobile's user disclosed that he got this phone from one Anas (23).

He was caught and confessed that he killed the girl."Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Ankit Singh said the accused lives in the second house next to the deceased's. He knew the deceased's family, being a neighbour. He planned to steal from the house and broke into it. "Upon seeing him, the girl panicked and raised an alarm. The accused, out of fear and apprehension of being caught, strangled her and decamped with a mobile and a tablet," police said.

According to police, the PCR received a call reporting the death of a minor girl on the third-floor terrace of a rented residence in the Dabri area at around 1.45 PM on Thursday. In the preliminary investigation, the teen's mother claimed that when she returned home, she found her daughter lying dead on the terrace of the three-storey building. She immediately alerted the landlord, who then called the police. The mother told police that she found her daughter with her hands tied and a dupatta knotted around her neck.She was living in the rented accommodation with her mother, elder sister, and brother for the past month and a half. She was a student of Class VIII at a school in Janakpuri. At the time of the incident, the mother, who does small stitching and sewing work to sustain the family, went out for some work, the sister was on duty, and the brother was in Uttam Nagar.