Missing seven-year-old found dead in Lonavla
A seven-year-old girl, missing since Sunday night, was found brutally murdered at the terrace of Kumar Resort in Lonavla on Tuesday afternoon. She had come to attend a marriage ceremony there.
According to police, the class II student had come from Raigad district along with her father to attend a marriage reception on Sunday. After the ceremony, they realised that the girl was missing. When repeated searches yielded no result, a kidnapping complaint was lodged with the Lonavla police station on Monday. Police have, now, also lodged a case for murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.
The body was spotted by the resort’s staff, draped in a bed sheet and hidden under the solar panel on the terrace. Police suspect that she might have been sexually assaulted as her clothes were torn. Speaking to Mirror, a family acquaintance of the victim, Manoj Jain, said, “The girl went missing around 9 pm on Sunday after the reception ceremony. We searched for her till 1 am and then lodged a police complaint. We looked for her in the nearby areas all through Monday, but in vain. We were neither allowed to go upstairs nor shown any CCTV footage, as the cameras were under maintenance. Around 11 am Tuesday, we got a call from the resort, informing us that her body was lying in a pool of blood on the terrace.”
When asked about the possibility of sexual assault, Lohiya added, “I will only comment after getting the postmortem report.” Despite repeated phone calls, Kumar Resort officials were unavailable for comment. - Mumbai Mirror Bureau
According to police, the class II student had come from Raigad district along with her father to attend a marriage reception on Sunday. After the ceremony, they realised that the girl was missing. When repeated searches yielded no result, a kidnapping complaint was lodged with the Lonavla police station on Monday. Police have, now, also lodged a case for murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.
The body was spotted by the resort’s staff, draped in a bed sheet and hidden under the solar panel on the terrace. Police suspect that she might have been sexually assaulted as her clothes were torn. Speaking to Mirror, a family acquaintance of the victim, Manoj Jain, said, “The girl went missing around 9 pm on Sunday after the reception ceremony. We searched for her till 1 am and then lodged a police complaint. We looked for her in the nearby areas all through Monday, but in vain. We were neither allowed to go upstairs nor shown any CCTV footage, as the cameras were under maintenance. Around 11 am Tuesday, we got a call from the resort, informing us that her body was lying in a pool of blood on the terrace.”
Manoj Lohiya, Superintendent of Police (Pune rural), told Mirror, “Prima-facie probe suggest an injury with a sharp weapon on her neck. The body has been taken to Sassoon Hospital for a post-mortem and the report is expected on Wednesday. Investigations are on to nab the accused. There is no CCTV camera on the terrace. There are only two cameras, that too on the ground floor.”
When asked about the possibility of sexual assault, Lohiya added, “I will only comment after getting the postmortem report.” Despite repeated phone calls, Kumar Resort officials were unavailable for comment. - Mumbai Mirror Bureau
