A 33-year-old powerloom worker, who had been on the run in a 2023 rape and murder case of a six-year-old, allegedly sexually assaulted and killed another child in Maharashtra’s Thane district, police said on Saturday.

The incident occurred on Wednesday in Bhiwandi town, where the accused reportedly raped and strangled his seven-year-old neighbour before stuffing her body into a gunny sack and fleeing the scene. Police arrested him while he was preparing to escape to Madhubani in Bihar the same night.

Authorities said the victim had stepped outside her house to relieve herself but did not return. Her parents discovered her small bucket outside the accused’s locked house, broke down the door and found her body inside the sack.

The suspect had previously been arrested for the 2023 rape and murder of another child and was lodged in Thane Central Jail. He escaped police custody during a court hearing in August and returned to the victim’s neighbourhood days before the latest crime. The Thane police have registered a case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
(With inputs from PTI)

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