A powerloom worker, who had been on the run in a rape and murder case involving a six-year-old girl, allegedly sexually assaulted and killed another child in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Saturday.The police have arrested the 33-year-old man in connection with the incident that occurred in Bhiwandi town on October 1, an official said.The accused allegedly raped and strangled his seven-year-old neighbour and stuffed her body in a gunny sack before fleeing the scene on Wednesday, he said.
He was caught by the police while he was preparing to flee to Madhubani in Bihar on the same night, the official said. According to the police, the victim had stepped out of her house to relieve herself but never returned. Her parents carried out a frantic search and found the small bucket that the girl had carried with her outside the accused's house, which was locked. They broke down the door and found the child's body stuffed in a gunny sack, police said.
The official said the accused had similarly raped and murdered a six-year-old girl in 2023 and was arrested and lodged in Thane Central Jail.He had fled police custody when he was brought to court for a hearing in August, and had returned to stay in the victim's neighbourhood a few days ago, he said. The local police have registered a case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against the accused, the official said.