Ghaziabad: Girl, 13, dies by suicide after rape; suspect arrested

Ghaziabad

A 13-year-old girl was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her house in Modinagar on Wednesday evening, two days after she was allegedly raped by a 23-year-old man she met online, police officers said on Thursday.

The girl was in touch with the suspect, identified as Himanshu Soni, a resident of Modinagar, for the past week. Police said the incident of rape took place on June 17 and that the accused was arrested.

“The suspect met the girl online and was chatting with her for the past week. On June 17 (Monday), he picked her up from near her house on their first meeting. He took her on his bike to a hotel in Modinagar and raped her there before dropping her back. The hotel owner is an acquaintance of the suspect and did not bother to ask him for identification,” a police officer investigating the case said.

On June 18, the girl confided in her parents, who questioned her about her indifferent behaviour and about some marks on her body, police said.

After learning about the rape, the family complained to the police and an FIR was registered against the suspect under sections 363 (abduction), 376(3) (for rape on woman under 16 years) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the POCSO (Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences) Act.

Based on the FIR, the accused was arrested on Wednesday. The girl was sent for a medical examination and returned home with her family around 4.30pm.

“When the family woke up around 7pm, they found the girl hanging from a ceiling fan with a cloth in her room. They rushed her to a local hospital and then another hospital in Meerut, where she was declared dead,” Vivek Chandra Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (rural), Ghaziabad, said.

Police were informed about the incident around 7.30pm by a friend of the girl’s father. An autopsy was conducted by a panel of doctors on Thursday afternoon.

“The autopsy report received on Thursday indicates that she died of ante-mortem hanging, indicating that she died by way of suicide. We will now add IPC section 306 (for abetting suicide) against the suspect and have also slapped provisions of POCSO against the hotel operator. The rape suspect is arrested and the hotel owner has been called for questioning,” the DCP said.