Chandigarh, February 26: A 27-year-old married man and father of two, reportedly addicted to alcohol and drugs, brutally killed a five-year-old girl by slashing her throat with a knife as her family and neighbours watched in horror, in Chandigarh. He had reportedly known the girl’s family for the last 15 years.
The killer, identified as Kamlesh, lived in Sanjay Labour Colony in the Industrial Area, Phase 1, and was working at Geeta Printing Press in Sector 51.
His victim, Ujala, was living with her elder brother, sister-in-law and their two children. Ironically, her parents, who live in Bihar, had come to Chandigarh on Saturday to take her back to register her name in a school.
Both Kamlesh and Ujala’s families lived next to each other in adjoining shanties.
The incident happened on Sunday afternoon, when Ujala’s father was not at home and the child was playing outside her shanty. The rest of the family members were watching television.
Soon, neighbours raised the alarm, telling Ujala’s mother that Kamlesh was “cutting her with a knife,” and as everyone rushed to the next room they found him holding a knife in one hand and the child in another.
The family and neighbours watched him slashing at her repeatedly with the knife even as they tried to save her. When freed finally from his clutches, Ujala was dead.
Kamlesh was handed over to the police, who said he was a drunkard and a drug addict living alone for the past few days as his wife and children had gone to their village in Bihar.
Deputy Superintendent of police (DSP), Satish Kumar, said, “Kamlesh inflicted a sharp injury on the throat of the five-year-old who was playing outside her room. The accused was admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Sector 32 and the weapon has also been recovered.”
The motive of the murder was not clear and no previous history or any other angle has been found in the case, the DSP added.
In his statement, Kamlesh claimed that he killed the child “because of Kali Mata’s influence.”
A distraught Nakul Singh, Ujala’s father, said, “Our family has been staying in this locality for the last 25 years and we knew Kamlesh and his brother for the last 15 years. My daughter was just playing outside and for some reason; he used a knife, usually used for cutting raw mangoes or fish to injure her brutally.”
Nakul, who works as driver back home in Bihar, said, “My wife and I had come to the city to take her back thinking we would get her name registered in a school but this man has left us with nothing. We have been told that hey had tried to knife somebody else in the colony earlier as well.”
A case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered at the Industrial Area police station.
Source Hindustan Times
