HYDERABAD:In a shocking incident, the body of a four-year-old girl, who went missing three days ago, was found stuffed in a gunny bag inside the house of a neighbour here Saturday. According to the police, residents of the street broke into the house of Lachaiah, the neighbour, as foul smell started emanating from the house. It is said that the accused had some previous enmity with the victim’s parents. The incident took place at Deen Dayal Nagar under Sanathnagar police limits in the city.
The residents got enraged as they found the body of the girl and thrashed the accused before handing him over to the police. However, police said they are yet to ascertain the motive for the murder and they have taken some suspects, including Lachaiah into custody.
Lasya, the victim, is the daughter of Naveen, a carpenter, and Mayuri, a housewife. Sanathnagar police received a complaint from Lasya’s parents on Wednesday that the girl had gone missing while playing near their house. According to the parents, they noticed the absence of the girl at 8 pm, and started searching.
Meanwhile, a resident of the locality grew suspicious as foul smell started emanating from Lachaiah’s house and informed the same to Lasya’s parents.
Naveen and Mayuri ran to the house of Lachaiah while residents of the street also gathered in front of the house. The house was locked and family members had gone absconding.
The crowd broke open the doors of Lachaiah’s house and found the body wrapped in a gunny bag and kept in a rack.
Tension gripped the area as the parents and relatives of the girl got enraged at the sight of the body and started demonstration demanding immediate arrest of the house owner. They allegedly caught hold of the suspect and beat him up holding him responsible for the killing.
Meantime, Sanathnagar police rushed to the spot and shifted the dead body to mortuary. The body was handed over to the parents after postmortem. According to the police the accused had smashed the head of the child with a rod causing her death. There was an injury on her throat also suggesting that she was smothered by the miscreants.
Quoting a child in Lachaiah’s family, locals said the body of was kept hidden in the washroom for a day and later shifted to the rack. “The girl was smothered for nearly 30 minutes with a pillow,” claimed a relative. Balanagar assistant commissioner of police (ACP) N Narsimha Reddy said they suspected the role of a woman behind the murder.
Chary, grandfather of the victim was shattered to see the numb body of the toddler. “On Wednesday night, I sat near our house and Lasya came to me. I asked her to go home and sleep. That was the last time we met Later, she went missing,” he lamented.Meanwhile, police have been deployed in the locality to prevent any attack on the family of the suspects. It is learnt that the two families were not in good terms following an altercation some two years back.