Chandini was killed by childhood friend: Cops

Hyderabad: Chandini Jain, a Class 12 student who was found dead after she went missing from her home on Tuesday, was murdered by her childhood friend, police said on Wednesday.

Briefing media, Commissioner of Police Sandeep Shandilya said it appears to be a premeditated murder. The case was solved after scanning CCTV footage, which showed the girl along with a 17-year-old youth getting down from an auto-rickshaw and walking towards the bushes. He was later identified as her classmate from Class 6 to 10.

Interestingly, the accused had also visited Jain’s house on Tuesday to console her family members.

The minor boy told the police that they were in love for last two years but he was trying to avoid her for the last few months. As the girl was pressurising him to marry her, he had decided to get rid of her.

The Commissioner said Chandini was friendly and moved closely with the members of her group. He said in the beginning of September, she took part in a fest; whose events include educational and cultural programmes. This was organised in a hotel and continued for three days.

As socialising and partying was also part of the fest during the evening hours, the accused grew suspicious of her movements.

According to the police, the girl left her house in Satyanarayana Enclave in Miyapur on Saturday saying that she was going for a party. She contacted one of her friends Naga and some others and learnt that a scheduled party was cancelled. However, she later contacted the accused.

As the deceased has been forcing him to marry her, both of them decided to sort out their problem. Accordingly, at 5 pm on September 9, the accused came to Deepthisri Nagar crossroads.

Both of them boarded an auto and went towards Madhavapuri Hills at Ameenpur, where she picked up a quarrel with the accused regarding the relationship.

During the heated discussion, the deceased slapped him and threatened to commit suicide. Angry over this, the accused gave fist blows and throttled her to death.

Later, he dragged the dead body to the cliff and fled the scene. On the way, he threw the cell phone of the deceased into a pond, the police added. Initially, during the interrogation, the accused did not confess to the crime.

The police then called boy’s father and was shown the CCTV footage. The father of the accused confirmed that it was his son, said the Police Commissioner.

During the investigation, the boy told the police that he was playing cricket at the time of incident. Suspecting that the boy was not telling the truth, the police took him to the location where he said he was playing cricket but found that nothing corroborates with his version.

“The way the accused tied kerchief on his face, we suspect this to be a premeditated murder,” the commissioner added.

The police ruled out any sexual assault prior to the murder, saying that the clothes were intact and the injuries were inflicted on her during the scuffle.