Delhi 6-year-old’s murder: Wife of accused led cops to him; girl's mother says, 'he lured her to steal the phone, sold later'

NEW DELHI: The breakthrough in the murder of a six-year-old girl in southeast Delhi, who was allegedly sexually assaulted, came when the accused called his wife, who is the child's elder cousin, from an unknown number and asked her to meet him so they could flee.At the time, the woman, along with the girl's relatives, was at the local police station. She offered to help the officers and agreed to me-et her husband at a nearby park. A trap was laid and the man was nabbed by cops wea-ring civilian clothes.The child's family has alleged she was sexually assaulted. Police said post-mortem results are awaited. The six-year-old girl is survived by her parents and three siblings. Sitting in their rented room, the parents, a labourer and a domestic helper, told TOI on Wednesday that they had moved to the ci ty nearly a year ago in search of better opportunities. The parents said on Feb 19, they left their two daughters at home and headed to work around 8.30am. The mother had recently bought a phone for Rs 19,000, which she would often leave with the girls to keep them occupied throughout the day. "She loved watching makeup tutorials and would try them on herself," she recalled. Around 3 pm, the elder sister woke up to find the girl missing. The family said they had given shelter to the accused, who had fled from their village last Nov with his wife and two sons after allegedly stealing cattle and selling them.

They described him weeping with the family, eating at their home as panic ensued after the girl went missing, and even accompanying them to the police station, crying, "It ni sundar bachi kahan chali gayi, pata nahi (I don't know where such a beautiful child has gone).

"The case turned when po-lice found CCTV footage showing the girl with the accused near his house around 11.55am on the day of the inci-dent. "He fled after that. He left his phone behind and was not home for a night," the girl's father said, adding that he later called his wife.

According to police, during questioning, the accused disclosed that he took the child to an isolated area near a park, where he at-tacked her by striking her on the head with a brick and then threw her body into a nearby well."He had lured her to steal the phone, which he sold later. He then sexually as saulted her. When he asked her if she would tell her pa-rents and she said yes, he killed her," the girl's mother alleged. The family said they want him to remain behind bars, adding that even his wife supports their demand for strict punishment. "We co-uld have never imagined so-meone who was like a brot-her to her could do this," the mother said.