JANAKPUR, July 6: Police have arrested an Indian national for allegedly raping and murdering a minor, Kanchan Panjiyar.
Thirty-two years old Dipu Singh from Mahihawaad district in Uttar Pradesh has been arrested for the rape and murder of 11-year-old Panjiyaar who was living in Janakpurdham Sub-metropolitian City. Singh’s arrest as the offender for the felony was made public through a press conference held by the District Police Office, Dhanusha on Monday.
Police officials mentioned that Singh was working at Mishra and Chaudhary’s industry in the same village. According to Police investigation, Panajiyar was raped at a place called ‘Aapbagaicha’ where she had taken her calves for grazing on July 1. “Our investigation has found that Singh first lured the victim with mangoes and took her to Aapbagaincha where she was raped. He then murdered her,” said Superintendent of Police (SP) Ramesh Kumar Basnet, chief of the District Police Office, Dhanusha.
“Singh confessed to have murdered the girl by pressing his hands against her mouth and nose so that she couldn’t breathe. The incident happened right beside the industry office where he worked.”
Man arrested on the charge of raping a minor
Panjiyar had left her house with the cattle on Sunday morning but when she didn’t return until the evening, her family members started searching for her. However, they couldn’t find her even until the next morning. Her father then filed a complaint at the local police station.
A team under DSP Rameshwar Karki started the investigation. After a few hours, her dead body was found at the crime spo.
As explained by police, when Singh had gone to Aapbagaicha to get some mangoes, the victim was already there with her cattle. He then asked her to join him in picking mangoes. Panjiyar first declined his appeal. However, she was convinced to join after he repeatedly asked her.
He then took her to a silent place and raped her. When she tried to scream and run away, he covered her mouth until she died. After murdering her, he wrapped her body with a blanket and threw her body in a nearby river the next morning. The blanket was buried in a field 50 meters away from the river.
Police officials were able to find the murderer through videos recorded in CCTV cameras across the area. According to DSP Karki, Singh who was attested from his workplace first tried to deny that he had committed the crime. However, he finally accepted the offense after being interrogated constantly.
Karki stated that the victim’s body has already been handed over to her family members after conducting a postmortem.
“Further investigations are being carried out at the provincial and federal levels,” Karki said.
