6-year-old boy murdered in Delhi, body hanged from tree

New Delhi: A six-year-old boy was allegedly murdered and then his body hanged from a tree, after suspected sexual assault, at a secluded spot in south Delhi's Dhaula Kuan area, police said on Wednesday.

The boy went missing yesterday evening and a case of abduction was registered at the South Campus police station, said a senior police officer.

According to the police, the incident came to light around 11.45 AM today when a passer-by saw the semi-nude body of the boy hanging from a tree and called up the police control room.

The limbs of the body were also found to be tied with a rope. A police team rushed the boy to hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

Investigation was taken up and the first task was to ascertain the identity of the boy. A message was sent to all police stations and it emerged that a boy of similar age was reported missing from a slum cluster in Delhi University's south campus area last evening. The parents of the missing boy later identified the body.

From preliminary investigation, it appears that the boy was allegedly strangulated in the wee hours of the day, after a suspected sexual assault suggested by the condition of the clothes and other vital evidences, and then hanged from the tree with the help of a rope, said the senior officer.

The body has been sent for post-mortem examination and the report shall bring to fore the time and cause of death, and also whether the boy was sexually assaulted, said the officer.

The case was later transferred from South West district of Delhi Police -- which covers the area where the body was found -- to South district, where the abduction case was already registered and other relevant sections were added to the existing FIR, said the officer.