In a shocking incident, a 16-year-old boy allegedly strangled his 9-year-old neighbour and set her on fire using camphor after she caught him stealing jewellery from her flat at a housing society in Gurgaon.
The incident took place in the Signature Global Solera, Sector 107, Gurugram.
FIR has been registered on the matter at Rajendra Park police station.
The families of the victim and the accused stay in two separate towers of the society and they were on good terms.
According to the police, on Monday morning when the father of the victim went to the office, her mother and brother went to the house of the accused.
Seeing the girl’s mother in his house, the accused left the house saying he was going out for tuition but went to the victim’s house.
The accused told police that the victim caught him stealing jewellery from her house. When she continued protesting him, he allegedly strangled her. After this, he allegedly set her body on fire using camphor from the home temple.
The accused told police that he did not want to kill her but when the girl refused to be quiet, he strangled her as he was afraid of getting caught.
After some time, the girl’s mother rang the doorbell but no one opened the door. Soon after, she saw smoke coming out from the flat and she raised the alarm, which is when other residents gathered at the spot, the police said.
Later, they entered the flat from the balcony and found the girl dead and in half-burned condition while the boy was sitting in a corner, the police said.
Police said the boy initially tried to mislead them, claiming that two thieves entered the house and also thrashed him badly. He was then taken into custody and he later confessed to the murder, they said.
During investigation, the accused said that he was inspired by TV show Crime Patrol and set her on fire using camphor to erase his fingerprints and destroy other evidence.