A 16-year-old boy allegedly strangled his 9-year-old neighbour and set her body on fire after she caught him stealing jewellery from her flat at a housing society in Gurugram on Monday, the police said.
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, they said.
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, the police said.
The accused, a class 10 student, who has been apprehended by the police initially tried to claim that two thieves had entered the house and killed the girl but later confessed to the murder, the police said.
He said that he was stealing the jewellery to repay a loan of Rs 20,000, they said.
The accused told police that he did not want to kill her but since the girl refused to be quiet, he strangled her as he was afraid of getting caught, a senior investigating officer said.
The police said an FIR has been registered on the matter at Rajendra Park police station.
According to the police, on Monday morning the father of the victim went to the office, while the mother and brother went to the house of the accused, which was in another tower in the same society.
Seeing the girl's mother in his house, the accused left the house saying he was going out for tuition but arrived at the victim's house.
The accused told the police that he rang the bell and the girl, who was alone in the house, opened the door.
He said he sat on the sofa and asked her for water and later also helped with her school homework, a senior investigating officer said.
When she went to the toilet, he allegedly found keys to the locker from the drawer of the bed and stole some jewellery, the IO said.
This is when the girl came out from the toilet and she protested seeing the jewellery. The boy threw the jewellery out from the balcony but the girl continued protesting, which is when he starts hitting her, the officer said.
The officer said the boy then allegedly strangled her. After this, he allegedly set her body on fire using camphor from the home temple.
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 officer 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.
The police said the boy 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.
"The accused claims that he had to repay a loan of Rs 20,000, so he committed the theft," said a senior investigating officer.
"An FIR has been registered and the accused boy has been apprehended. We are questioning him further," said Karan Goel, DCP (west). Police are also questioning some friends of the boy, he said.
