T-shirt helps police arrest man accused of 10-yr-old’s rape-murder in Bhandup

The girl’s decomposed body was found at Vidyavihar railway station on Saturday – four days after she went missing on November 5 from her neighbourhood in Sonapur, Bhandup.

Bhandup police have identified a man, accused of sexually assaulting and murdering a 10-year-old girl last week , from the T-shirt he was wearing while loitering in the same area from where he had kidnapped the minor.

The girl’s decomposed body was found at Vidyavihar railway station on Saturday – four days after she went missing on November 5 from her neighbourhood in Sonapur, Bhandup.

Bhandup police, while probing the disappearance of the girl, scanned CCTV footage and spotted the suspect walking with the girl.

Footage from Bhandup and Vidyavihar railway stations confirmed the man had taken the girl. Police said they were surprised that no passers-by took action despite the victim continuously attempting to resist the man.

“The girl was a slow learner and faced speech difficulties, which made it easier for the suspect to target her,” said a police officer privy to the investigation.

“The CCTV footage revealed that the girl resisted her kidnapper, but no one paid heed. The accused even travelled in a local train with her and still, nobody came to her rescue.”

According to the police, the girl was taken to the bushes near Vidyavihar railway station where she was allegedly sexually assaulted and strangled to death by the accused.

“The accused, later identified as a resident of Wadala, was wearing a blue T-shirt with ‘Swag’ written on it when he kidnapped the girl. He was wearing the same T-shirt when we arrested him,” said the officer.

The accused previously worked at an eatery in Bhandup and was employed by another hotel in Ghatkopar at the time of the crime.