Guj: Two months after rape-murder of teen girl, man from neighbourhood arrested

PTI, Jan 17, 2022, 5:15 PM IST

Baruch: A 24-year-old man was arrested for the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl, more than two months after her body was found from a cotton farm in Gujarat’s Bharuch district, police said on Monday.

Accused Vasant Thakor lived in the victim’s neighborhood in Sarbhan village here and, on November 8 last year, he followed the victim when she was out collecting firewood, took her forcibly to a cotton farm, and raped and strangled her, a local crime branch official said.

Thakor then joined a search team and helped bring the body of the victim to her home, the official said, adding that several police teams were formed to solve the case. ”During the course of the investigation in the last two months, more than 200 people were questioned and technical surveillance of around 1,100 mobile phones was carried out. The search narrowed down to seven suspects, whose DNA samples were sent for matching,” he said.

”Thakor was arrested after his DNA sample matched with one collected from the victim’s body. He has confessed to the crime. Further probe is underway,” he added.