In a shocking incident reported from Delhi’s Vasant Vihar, an 8-year-old girl was strangled to death as she resisted a rape bid on her by a teenage boy living in her neighbourhood, police said on Tuesday. The body of the victim was later dumped in army cantonment.

As per the police, the girl’s body was found dead with a noose around her neck in a vacant house in Shankar Vihar Military Station on Tuesday morning.

The girl, who lived in the army servant quarters, had been missing from her house since Monday, PTI reported quoting cops.

19-year-old accused arrested

The accused has been identified as a 19-year-old youth from the same neighbourhood and was arrested later. The police caught him with the help of the CCTV camera, which was installed on the campus.

His parents also work as servants at an army officer’s house, the police said.

“During interrogation, the accused revealed that he lured the victim, who used to call him brother, to an isolated house in the locality and tried to force himself on her. When she resisted, he strangled her,” the officer said.

The accused also tried to mislead the police by tying a scarf around her neck and trying to pass it off as a case of suicide.

The officer said the girl is survived by his parents and an elder brother. A neighbour told PTI that the girl was playing outside her house when she went missing around 6 pm Monday.

“Her parents informed the army officers after failing to find her. The army personnel also helped the family in finding the girl,” he said.

Around 1 am, her parents called the local police. Around 8 am, the body of the girl was discovered by the locals and the police, he added.

The family members and other residents held a protest at the main road near Shankar Vihar demanding justice for the victim and her family.

The sections of murder and others will be added to the FIR, he said.

(With PTI inputs)