NONGSTOIN: A 24-year-old man was arrested on Monday for killing his seven-year-old niece in a village in Mairang in West Khasi Hills.
The parents of Riba Nongrum suspect that the accused, Balajied Nongrum, raped the child before stabbing her in the neck on Sunday.
However, Mairang police did not confirm it and said it would be clear after the postmortem.
The members of the bereaved family at Umthied Bynther told The Shillong Times on phone that the incident occurred around 1pm on Sunday.
Riba’s mother had asked her to connect the water pipe in the backyard after the child came back from church service in the afternoon.
When the child did not return after some time, her mother thought she had gone to play with other children.
But when Riba did not return in the evening, her parents started searching around 4pm. They could not find her. The search continued through the night without any result.
On Monday morning, the Dorbar Shnong of Umthied Bynther cancelled its daily business and joined in the search.
After sometime, the girl’s body was found wrapped in a plastic bag inside the toilet of the local Presbyterian Church. The villagers informed Mairang police.
A few among the villagers found blood in the verandah of Balajied’s residence and started questioning him.
Baljied, who was with the search team, came under pressure and tried to escape but in vain as the police had already arrived.
The girl’s parents said they did not suspect Baljied “as he was Riba’s uncle and he was there when the body was found”.
Sources said Baljied kept the body in his house and later disposed it.
Meanwhile, the district unit of the Khasi Students’ Union condemned the barbaric act. “He does not deserve to live in our society and he should be hanged to death,” said Shemphang Marbaniang, vice president of KSU-WKH.
