Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Feb 18: A five-year-old girl child who had gone missing since 12 February was found raped and murdered at Namgo Mismi village in Wakro circle.
The perpetrators of the heinous crime have been identified as tea garden labourer Sanjay Sobor (30) and Jagdish Lohar (25), who abetted Sobor.
Wakro police outpost OC Thomas Pertin informed that the young girl went missing from the compound of her family’s house sometime between 9.30 and 10.30 am on 12 February, following which her parents filed an FIR at the Wakro police outpost on the same day.
The police, assisted by local residents, carried out a massive search operation for the child. They found her body barely 200-300 yards inside the dense tea garden area behind the family’s house on 17 February.
The police found the child naked, with her head severed from the body.
Following the findings, the police launched a massive search for the culprits, and arrested Sobor and Lohar on Sunday morning.
The OC informed that Sobor and Lohar were reportedly in Namgo Mismi village for a funeral.
On 12 February, Sobor noticed the young child and lured her away into the dense garden area, where he raped her.
When she started crying, Sobor allegedly severed her head with Lohar’s machete (dao).
The police said although Lohar did not rape the child, he abetted Sobor in killing the child by lending his machete and helped him flee from the village.
The two accused were arrested from the Tengapani tea cultivation area.
Post-mortem on the child’s body has been conducted and the body has been handed over to the family, informed the OC.
Medical tests and further investigations are on, he added.
Meanwhile, the North East Human Rights Organisation (NEHRO) strongly condemned the heinous act and demanded thorough investigation and exemplary punishment for those involved in the rape and murder of the young child.
It claimed that the accused in the case had entered into the territory of Arunachal without obtaining an inner line permit.
“It is a complete failure of the government,” it said.
The NEHRO extended its solidarity and heartfelt condolences to the family.
