SHAHJAHANPUR: Five days after a seven-year-old girl’s body was found in a garbage dump in the city, police arrested her 19-year-old cousin, booking him for rape and murder. The youth allegedly raped the girl and then murdered her to conceal his identity. The accused was arrested and sent to jail on Saturday.Senior superintendent of police, Shahjahanpur , S Chinnapa has announced a cash reward of Rs25, 000 for the police team that solved the case.Terming it a blind case, police said, initially they had no leads to work on. The victim went missing on February 8 after she went out to play outside her house. A missing FIR was filed by the grandmother at Shahjahanpur Kotwali police station and a hunt was launched to find the girl. The girl lived with her grandmother as her father had passed away a few years ago and her mother had remarried.On February 11, the naked body of the girl was found in a garbage dump. It was spotted by a rag-picker. The autopsy report confirmed that she was raped and strangled to death.During investigation, police suspicion was aroused when it was found that the girl’s cousin, who lives in the neighborhood, was missing for a day when the body was discovered. After collecting sufficient evidence, police detained the youth for questioning.During sustained questioning, the youth admitted to have killed his cousin after raping her.Chinnapa said, “It was a blind case as the minor was kidnapped and murdered by an unidentified person. We immediately deployed local police and intelligence unit for investigating this case. We have gathered sufficient evidence and identified the accused, who is the victim’s cousin.”

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