A 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by a 17-year-old boy residing in her neighbourhood in Chhattisgarh's Bemetara district, police said on Tuesday.
The victim was found hanging at her house under mysterious circumstances on Saturday, following which a probe was launched into the incident, Kotwali station house officer Amber Singh Bhardwaj said.
The incident took place in the City Kotwali police station area on Saturday and the police detained the 17-year-old accused on Monday, an official said.
Bemetra is located 90 km from the state capital Raipur.
A preliminary investigation revealed the girl had been sexually assaulted and strangled, he said.
After enquiries with locals, the police zeroed-in on the accused and detained him, he said.
“The accused told the police he was addicted to watching obscene videos on his mobile phone and after watching porn, he barged into the victim's house and sexually assaulted her," the official said.
Fearing the girl would inform her family, the accused allegedly strangled her with a scarf and hanged her. He then fled through the terrace, the official said.
A case was registered against the accused under Indian Penal Code Sections 376 (rape), 376 AB (rape on woman under 12 years of age), 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and 450 (house trespass), and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act, the official said.
The accused was produced in a local court, which sent him to a juvenile home in Durg district, officials said.
(With PTI input)
