KORBA: A teenage girl was allegedly raped and killed by a 23-year-old man in Chhattisgarh's Surajpur district and the latter tried to pass it off as a case of suicide, police said on Sunday.
The incident took place on March 24 and during a probe into it, the police on Saturday arrested the man, identified as Sabir Ali alias Baba Khan, who allegedly strangled the victim to death and then hanged the body from a ceiling fan at her house in Bhatgaon police station limits, Surajpur Addl SP Harish Rathore said.
As per preliminary investigation, the victim, a Class XII student, appeared for her practical exam on Thursday and then returned home in Surajpur, located around 300 km from the state capital Raipur. Her mother was in Bilaspur to take care of her ailing father, who was admitted in a hospital there, while her younger brother had gone out of home to play, the official said.
"On finding the victim alone in the house, the accused went there. He allegedly raped her and then strangled her to death with her scarf. The man then hanged the body from a ceiling fan and wrote a note on her hand with a pen to make it appear as a case of suicide," the official said.
Later, the victim's brother and neighbours found her hanging and informed the police, he said. Based on the investigation, the accused was arrested and booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape) and other relevant provisions, the official said.
"The exact age of the deceased is yet to be ascertained and if she is found to be a minor, provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act will be included in the case," he added. On Saturday, a large number of people gathered in Jarhi area of Surajpur to pay tributes to the victim and demanded death sentence for the accused.