A 16-year-old boy, who strangled a nine-year-old girl to death and tried to burn her body in Gurugram on July 1, has revealed that he had tried to sexually assault the girl before killing her, the police said.
A senior police officer said that Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been added to the case after the accused's shocking confession.
According to the police, they received a call at around 10.45 am on July 1 informing that a girl had been assaulted by a teen who lived in her neighbourhood in Gurugram's Sector 107.
The boy had gone to the girl's house when her mother and brother were at his home.
According to the police, the girl was in the toilet when the boy allegedly tried to steal jewellery from the house. She caught him red-handed and tried to raise an alarm.
However, the boy pushed her onto the bed and strangled her before setting her on fire with the help of white naphthalene balls, the police said.
After hearing the girl's screams, the neighbours rushed in but could not save her.
The teen initially claimed that two thieves had entered the house and killed the girl, but later confessed to the murder.
“The boy kept changing his statement to mislead the police but eventually disclosed the truth. He also confessed that he tried to sexually assault the girl before killing her," an officer said.
During questioning, the teen said that he had lost over Rs 20,000 in an online gaming app.
"He had borrowed Rs 20,000 from his friends and had to return the money on July 1. To repay the amount, he stole jewellery from the victim's house, which the police have recovered," the officer added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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