Gurugram Teen Who Killed 9-Year-Old Girl Involved in 20 Thefts This Year: Police

Gurugram: Days after a 16-year-old boy strangled and burnt a nine-year-old girl to death, police officers investigating the gruesome murder said that the accused has admitted of committing at least 20 thefts this year in an attempt to settle his increasing gambling debts. Speaking to a leading English daily, Gurugram Police said that the accused teen was recently caught stealing a bicycle of a neighbour. 

Assistant commissioner of police Naveen Kumar said, "He is a habitual thief, and he was often caught stealing money from his parent’s wallet and lockers. He also ran away from his house when his father tried to reprimand him for his poor performance in studies when he failed in maths in his board exam. Throughout our discussion with him on his studies, he does not appear to be serious about his career and is keener towards gaming,” he said.

Kumar added that the minor boy was facing pressure to repay Rs 20,000 borrowed from two friends, with a deadline set for July 1. “He told us that he was not worried about selling the ornaments to jewellers as he had already identified more than one shop where he was confident he would manage to sell the stolen ornaments,” Kumar said.

Minor showed no regrets

Kumar further added that in the last two days, the boy has shown no remorse whatsoever. He admitted to committing the murder and provided a detailed confession to the juvenile justice board (JJB) about the assault and killing. He described the sequence of events leading to the death of the girl who used to call him 'bhaiya'.

The only regret the boy has expressed is that he was caught, said police.

Father refuses to hire legal counsel

Meanwhile, the father of the 16-year-old has informed investigators that he will not retain legal counsel for his son and is unwilling to meet with the accused. Kumar said, "His father told us that he will not hire legal counsel to fight his case since he has brought shame to them and they are guilty for what he has done. Both the families are under trauma except the juvenile."

Investigators also stated they are investigating whether the boy consumed drugs. Kumar added, “We are not content with his confession and are probing whether he attempted to molest or sexually assault the girl.”

Neighbors from the society reported that the boy was not well-behaved and frequently caused trouble. "He showed disrespect towards elders and seemed to have numerous personal issues, often behaving abusively towards others in the society," said one neighbor.

How did the murder unfolded

The boy allegedly strangled the girl and set her body on fire using camphor from the temple in her home on Monday after she caught him stealing jewellery.

During questioning, the boy told police that he was stealing the jewellery to repay Rs 20,000 that he had borrowed from his friends for playing online games, police officials said. Initially, the juvenile tried to mislead people but he confessed to the crime when police questioned him, they said.

Adding that the boy had no remorse about the incident, police said, “When he removed the dupatta after strangling her, she started breathing again and got scared. He then strangulated her again, till she died and then quickly got naphthalene balls and camphor placed next to a temple in the next room and set her on fire."

Police officers further said that the boy even used ground naphthalene balls, a method he learned from a Hindi true-crime TV show, to speed up the burning of the body. 

The families of the victim and the accused both stay in two separate towers of Signature Global Solera, Sector 107, Gurugram and they were on good terms. The mother of the girl, a class 4 student, was at the house of the accused when he allegedly carried out the act around 11 am on Monday, police said.

The accused, a class 10 student, initially tried to claim that two thieves had entered the house and killed the girl but later confessed to the murder, police said.