Mumbai: A child rape convict who walked out of jail six months ago was arrested on Saturday for kidnapping, raping and murdering a nine-year-old neighbour and dumping her body in a public toilet septic tank in a Mumbai suburb, according to The Times of India.
Vadivel Devendra alias Gundapp Bhai (35), convicted in 2013 for raping a five-year-old girl in the neighbourhood, was released in 2018 early for good behaviour in jail.
The girl was reported missing on Thursday evening, and the rape-murder came to light when police detained Devendra as CCTV footage from the area showed the Class III student walking with him. "She went out to buy tea from a nearby stall for her mother who’s unwell. We started searching for her when she didn’t return for an hour," her father, a daily wage labourer, said.
As police launched a search for the girl, Devendra accompanied them in the area. Meanwhile, some locals told police that Devendra had been arrested earlier for a minor’s rape. "This information caused suspicion about him and the CCTV footage strengthened our doubts," a police officer said.
In the CCTV footage, Devendra is seen talking to the girl who knew him as a neighbour. "Initially he claimed that he left the girl there and didn’t know what happened later. He was detained on Friday night and on Saturday morning he confessed to the crime. He led us the spot where he had dumped the minor’s body," said a police officer.
Devendra, who was produced before a court on Saturday, is married to two women and has children, while his second wife is pregnant.
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