A 63-year-old man was arrested in connection with the murder of a pregnant 18-year-old and was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in Assam’s Jorhat district on Monday.
The 18-year-old’s body was recovered from a septic tank in the early hours of Monday, four days after her family reported her missing.
The victim, a student at a local college, had turned 18 just two months earlier. Police said that during their investigation, it came to light that she was around seven months pregnant.
The accused, identified as Jagat Singha, confessed to killing the victim, police said. A local pharmacist has also been arrested for allegedly being aware of the pregnancy and not alerting authorities, an offence punishable under POCSO.
Jagat Singha’s two sons, Jibon and Kishan, aged 40 and 31 respectively, have also been arrested for allegedly assisting the crime.
Jorhat SSP Subhrajyoti Borah said the police are investigating allegations that Singha claimed to be a faith healer, and that the victim may have come into contact with him because of that.
After the recovery of the victim’s body, residents of the area protested, alleging negligence and callousness in the investigation by the Officer-in-Charge of the local police station. The officer has been placed in “reserve closed”, which means he will be away from active duty, and the Assam Police headquarters has initiated a departmental inquiry.
Story continues below this ad
SSP Borah said the victim’s family had reported her missing on November 7, and that Singha had been detained by police for questioning the next day.
“He didn’t say anything at that time and didn’t confess, so the investigation continued. On 9th morning, he made an attempt [to take his own life] inside the police station, and he was taken for medical treatment. In the meantime, we found out from various sources that he had approached a doctor with the girl to make her undergo an abortion. To approach the doctor, he had taken the assistance of a pharmacist. We took the doctor’s statement, and while he could not be exact, he said she was 7-8 months pregnant,” the SSP said.
That night, Bora said, the accused “broke down” and confessed to the police. The victim’s body was recovered at around 3.30 am on Monday based on his confession, the SSP said.
“While the victim is not here to speak for herself, her friend said that maybe she had some sort of relationship with the accused… Her family said that her exam is ongoing and they used the term ‘joraphuka’ (faith healing). [They said] that he had given her a pen and that she believed if she wrote with that pen, the outcome of the exam would be good. That is how they got in touch. There was some element of superstition,” he said.
