THANE: A 20-year-old youth was arrested for sexually abusing and murdering his neighbour, a ten-year-old girl. He committed the heinous crime on Monday. The youth is a native of Mumbra. The police said the accused lured the child, who was playing in front of her house with her friends, under the pretext of offering toys. He took her to his house and then raped and murdered her. He later dumped her half-naked body in the building's duct.

The girl's 11-year-old friend told her mother that he saw a man giving her chips and chocolates and then taking her to a nearby apartment at 7:30 pm. The boy also said that the man had been watching the girl for some time. The girl could not be found even after 9:45 pm. At this time, a loud noise was heard as something fell into the duct of the nearby apartment. With this, the girl's half-naked body was found during an investigation by the residents of the apartment.

After the death of her husband, the woman had been taking care of her children working as a housemaid. 'My daughter came home at 6 pm after her exams. I fed her and made her study. After studying, she asked her mother whether she could go and play. She then went to play and I went for my work. I returned at 8 pm to put her to bed, but she was not at home. I searched everywhere but could not find her,' said the girl's mother with tears in her eyes.

The police reached the spot, took the body out of the duct and sent it for postmortem. The 11-year-old boy, the victim’s friend suspected Asif Akbar Mansoori of being the culprit. The police took him into custody and when questioned, he confessed to the crime. The postmortem report said the cause of death was the deep wound on her neck and the trauma caused by sexual assault. A case has been registered against the accused under sections including POCSO. The girl's mother said that strong action should be taken against the accused who brutally killed her daughter and threw her into the duct.