Man Accused of Raping Nine-year-old Girl, Dumping Body in Drain Held by Bhopal Police

Bhopal:Amid outrage over the rape and gruesome murder of a nine-year-old girl in Bhopal, police on Monday arrested the prime accused from Khandwa district in Madhya Pradesh.

Several teams were formed to catch Vishnu Prasad, who was finally held in Omkareshwar in Khandwa, additional superintendent of police Akhil Patel said. The arrest was made following a tip off, said the senior cop, adding that efforts will be made to get the culprit punished in the court within a month. A charge sheet in the case will be filed within two days.

The victim’s body was found in a drain in Mandwa slum opposite Indian Institute of Forest Management in Nehru Nagar area on Sunday morning, leading to protests in the area.

The anguished locals continued their protests on Monday outside the Kamla Nagar police station.

State’s law minister PC Sharma said the accused would be brought to Bhopal for legal action shortly and would be dealt with stringent punishment as soon as possible.

Sources told News18 that police took Prasad’s family’s help in nabbing him while he was hiding in Omkareshwar. The police would now probe if there were more people involved in the crime.

Locals from the Mandawi slum, where the rape and murder took place, claimed that Prasad used to live close to the victim’s home, and on the night of the incident, he raped and killed the girl and loitered in the area till midnight. After everyone retreated to their homes, he perhaps brought out the hidden body and dumped it in a nullah before fleeing the spot.

The girl went missing on 8pm on Saturday after she stepped out to buy something from a nearby shop.

The victim’s kin alleged that police did not pay any heed to their complaint despite frantic calls to the Dial 100 emergency response team. Angry over the incident, local residents gheraoed the Kamla Nagar police station alleging police inaction. The girl’s family also raised slogans at the Hamidia hospital where her body was taken for post mortem.

Locals claimed that the police staff reached the victim’s house and demanded tea and gutkha. They even suggested that the girl might have eloped with someone. Following backlash, state’s Home minister Bala Bachchan suspended seven policemen for inaction.