16-year-old rapes elderly woman, kills her with sickle in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa

REWA: A 16-year-old boy allegedly raped a 58-year-old woman and murdered her by gagging and hitting her brutally in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district, a crime suspected to be the fallout of a mobile phone theft two years ago, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place on the night of January 30 in Kailashpuri village under Hanumana police station limits.

The boy allegedly stuffed a plastic bag and a cloth into her mouth, dragged her to an under-construction part of the building where she resided, hit on her head and other body parts with a sickle and also caused injuries to her private parts with a stick, an official said.

The woman's family had accused the boy of stealing a mobile phone two years ago and the boy wanted to take revenge for it, he said.

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Vivek Lal said an information was received on February 1 that the body of a 58-year-old woman was lying at an under-construction building.

The police and forensic team reached the spot and it was found the woman was brutally murdered by an unidentified person, he said.

On the basis of tip-off from informers and the investigation, the police zeroed-in on the boy living in her neighbourhood.

The woman's family members also expressed suspicion on the boy, who used to come their house to watch television two years back, the official said.

Her family had then accused him of stealing a mobile phone which led to enmity between the boy and the family, the police said.

The boy wanted to take revenge because of the embarrassment he faced in the village following the theft charge, the official said.

On January 30, when the victim's son and husband were out of station, the boy entered her house.

He allegedly overpowered the woman sleeping on a cot and when she tried to scream, he stuffed a polythene bag and a cloth into her mouth, the police official said.

He then tied a plastic bag on her face using a rope and wire and dragged her to an under-construction part of the building, Lal said.

After tying her to a door, the boy allegedly hit the woman repeatedly and raped her when she became motionless after being suffocated, the official said.

He also hit on the victim's head, hands, throat and chest with a sickle and caused injuries to her private parts with a stick, Lal said.

The boy later fled after taking away Rs 1,000 cash and jewellery kept in the woman's house, he said.

"After being detained, the boy admitted to the crime during interrogation," the official said.

He was sent to a juvenile home and a case was registered against him under various Indian Penal Code Sections including 302 (murder), 376 (rape), 460 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night) 380 (theft) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence), the police added.