AGRA: In a brutal incident, an eight-year-old Dalit boy was allegedly sodomised and murdered in Etah district. The victim’s body was found hanging from a tree on Monday morning. The minor was reported missing since Sunday afternoon. Police have arrested a 28-year-old man based on the written complaint of the boy’s father.The crime was committed at Fatehpur Khalsa village under the Nidhauli Kala police jurisdiction in the district. The victim’s father said, “My son was playing outside the house when Devendar , our neighbour, lured him with a pack of juice and took him to a grocery shop nearby. He then dragged the minor to a field and sodomised him before killing the boy.”The father also alleged that it was a case of revenge murder. “Devendar was paid Rs 10,000 by Munna, another neighbour, to kill my son. There has been a long-standing enmity between Munna and our family over a farm land related dispute.”Deshveer Singh, station house officer (SHO) of the Nidhauli Kala station, said, “During interrogation, accused Devendar confessed to have killed the boy after taking a ‘contract’ from Munna. He, however, was not paid the money. The minor was sodomised and then strangulated. The body was hung from a tree to show it as suicide.”Devendar and Munna were booked under IPC sections 377 (unnatural offence), 302 (murder) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 3(2)5 of the SC/ST Act and section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Accused Munna is currently absconding.

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