Mumbai Crime: Waiter kills 10-month-old over fight with parents

The footpath where the deceased’s family live, at Aarey Road in Goregaon West

The Goregaon police on Sunday arrested a 24-year-old waiter who allegedly kidnapped and strangulated a 10-month-old girl in the wee hours of Saturday. According to police sources, Raju Rawat murdered the infant over a quarrel with her family a few days back.

Rawat worked as a waiter in a hotel near the crime scene. Sources said the deceased's parents, who hail from Rajasthan, lived on the footpath on Aarey Road in Goregaon, from where they used to sell flower garlands, balloons and plastic garbage bags.

Police said that around 2.30 am on Saturday, the child's mother, Neeta, woke up to find her child missing.

Speaking to mid-day, Neeta said, "Around 2.30 am, I suddenly woke up and saw someone pulling the sheet from over my youngest child. I noticed a person sitting
nearby and got terrified. I woke up my husband [Deepak Vagri] and then immediately the person started running away. My husband and I followed him, but he ran through the bushes."

"When we came back, all our things were scattered and our child was missing," she said, adding that they looked for her at every possible place but couldn't find her. They then approached the Goregaon police, who formed several search teams to hunt down the man.

They examined the footage from CCTV cameras and spotted a man carrying the girl towards Shaukat compound, a few metres away from where the Vagris lived. They searched there and found the body on Saturday night.

Police tracked down Rawat on Sunday and arrested him. During the interrogation, he confessed to abducting and killing the child, said an officer.

Sources said Rawat had a fight with the deceased's parents, because the couple and their two other children would allegedly harass customers at the hotel and beg on the pretext of selling balloons and garbage bags. Neeta, however, denied the allegation and claimed that she does not know him.

The body has been sent to JJ hospital for post mortem, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone XI) Vishal Thakur. "Earlier we had registered a case of kidnapping under Section 363 of the IPC, but now we have added Section 302 (murder). We are investigating the case from every possible angle," he added.