Ghaziabad Mall Rape-Murder: Chips Lured 7-Year-Old; Guard Mistook Her Cries For Slum Noise

Last Updated:July 13, 2026, 10:36 IST

Vinay Kumar and Sahibuddin used chips and soft drinks to lure the girl they often played with into an under-construction mall, where they raped and killed her.

A seven-year-old girl who was lured with chips and a soft drink — treats she was used to getting from the accused — was raped and murdered inside an under-construction mall in Ghaziabad’s Raj Nagar Extension on Friday. Police say labourer Vinay Kumar, 18, and his colleague Sahibuddin, 22, carried out the attack before dumping her body down a shaft into the basement.

CCTV footage showed the two men entering the mall with the girl around 7.40pm and leaving without her roughly two hours later, according to Times of India. It took police over an hour to trace the crime scene to the third floor in a power-less building, where they eventually found blood-spattered walls, the girl’s clothes, and the iron rod used in the attack.

How Did The Accused Lure The Girl?

Vinay, who hailed from Bettiah in Bihar, was a familiar face to the victim and her brothers. He used to play with the girl and her brothers, and would give them toffees and chips, an officer was quoted by TOI. That familiarity is what police believe let him walk her into the mall without raising alarm — she went missing around 7.30pm Friday while playing with her brothers and other children from a nearby slum settlement.

What Happened Inside The Mall?

Investigators pieced together the sequence from CCTV and forensic evidence. DCP (city and trans-Hindon) Dhawal Jaiswal told TOI that the footage showed the accused entering the mall with the girl through the main gate around 7.40pm, and coming out a couple of hours later without her.

A senior officer said the attack was calculated: the men first beat the girl severely and took turns raping her, before Vinay decided to kill her with an iron rod. Once satisfied she was dead, they carried her to a nearby staircase and dropped her body into the basement through a shaft.

Why Did It Take Police So Long To Find The Crime Scene?

The girl’s body was found in the basement, and police were alerted at 1.05am Saturday. But the actual crime scene lay three floors up, in a building with no electricity and corridors that ACP Priyashree Pal described to TOI as feeling like a maze.

Pal recounted using her phone’s torch to climb floor by floor — the first two turned up nothing, but on the third, she spotted blood near the staircase and followed the trail to a room where the walls and floor were spattered with bloodstains. That room yielded the girl’s slippers, trousers, and the blood-stained iron rod.

Could This Have Been Prevented?

The mall had no guard posted at its entrance, which police believe allowed the two men to enter unnoticed with the girl. The night watchman on duty was stationed near a construction material storage area some distance away.

He told police he heard a child’s cries of “bachao, bachao" (help, help) but assumed the sound was coming from the nearby slum settlement, and returned to his phone instead of investigating.

What Do Police Records Show About The Accused?

Both men were from Bihar — Vinay from Bettiah, Sahibuddin from Khagaria — and had worked at the mall construction site for two and a half months, having known each other since arriving in Ghaziabad.

Police said the two had been drinking before the attack, a routine they reportedly followed daily. Vinay was initially thought to be a minor when detained on Saturday, but police later confirmed he is 18. Both were produced in court on Sunday and remanded to judicial custody.

An FIR was registered at Nandgram police station on the father’s complaint, invoking BNS sections covering gang rape, rape of a minor, causing death, kidnapping, murder, and joint criminal acts, along with provisions of the POCSO Act.

About the Author

Sumedha Kirti

Sumedha Kirti is a Chief Sub Editor with over eight years of experience — both at the desk and reporting. She is a graduate from Delhi University's Miranda House. Kirti has previously worked with news...Read More

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