A man in Dhekiajuli in Assam has been arrested for the murder of a minor girl. The man identified as 42-year-old Hajarat Ali killed the 14-year-old girl after failing in his attempt to rape her in her sleep. The girl was studying in high school in the area.

The girl was found dead in her bed on Tuesday morning in her house at Bhakuamari in Alisinga under the Dhekiajuli police station in Sonitpur district. Only she and her father were living in the house during this time, as the rest of the family was not present. The father and the daughter went to bed after dinner on Monday night. On Tuesday, the father went to a nearby mosque for namaz at around 4 AM in the morning.

When he returned home after namaz, he was shocked to discover that his daughter was lying dead in her bed. The police were informed immediately. A team of police led by ASP Madhurima Das and the forensic team visited the crime scene after the complaint was received, and sniffer dogs were deployed.

While the forensic team collected evidence, the sniffer dog pointed towards Hajarat Ali who lives in the same neighbourhood. During questioning, police found the behaviour of Hajarat Ali suspicious. Therefore, he was taken to the police station for further questioning on the same day. During this interrogation, Hajarat Ali ultimately confessed that he killed the girl.

He said that he entered the house taking the advantage of her being alone with the intention to rape her. But while attempting the same, the girl woke up and started screaming. In fear of getting caught, he strangulated her, leading to her death.

The Officer-in-Charge of the Dhekiajuli Police Station said, “The girl was sleeping at her house in Bhakuamari village. Hajarat Ali, taking advantage of the absence of the other family members, entered the house, and attempted to rape the girl. When she woke up, and started screaming, out of fear Ali strangled her to death.”

Following this confession, police arrested Hajarat Ali.

The accused repeated the confession in front of media. He said, ‘I went there to do a bad deed, but she screamed, and therefore I strangled her neck.’ When asked why he attempted to rape a minor girl despite being her neighbour, he said that he has committed a grave mistake. He said that incident happened at around 5.30 am in the morning.

The body of the girl has been sent to Tezpur Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem, which will be video recorded.

(This article first appeared on OpIndia.com on Nov 16, 2022 and is being republished with a modified headline as part of a content-sharing agreement via smart4bharat.com)