10-Year-Old Balloon Vendor Found Involved in Death of 7-Year-Old Boy At Vasco Saptah

Vasco Police finally managed to crack the case of death of a 7-year-old boy whose semi-naked body was found behind the four-storied Kossambe building on Monday morning after his mother reported him missing. The 10-year-old boy was interrogated and later confessed to accompanying the boy to the terrace of the building from where he fell.

Police sources said that the accused wanted sexual favors from the victim which the boy refused. While the post mortem had ruled out sexual abuse, Vasco Police had suspected that someone had accompanied the boy to the terrace, given that he was found in a semi-naked state. His pants were found in an empty tank on the terrace.

It may be recalled that the body a 7-year-old boy was found dead under mysterious circumstances, during the Saptah Fair, behind Kossambe building, early on Monday morning. The body was found in a semi-naked condition and the family of the boy suspected the involvement of a foul play and police started its investigation based on that.

The police had rounded up 100 vendors from Saptah on Wednesday. The accused is from Rajasthan, belonging to the Banjara community had come to the fair with his parents as balloon vendors. During interrogation the accused initially denied any involvement in the incident, but his efforts to dodge questions aroused the suspicions of the police.

A woman, known to the victim’s family, also a vendor, informed the police that on Sunday morning she had seen the balloon vendor with the boy. The boy was holding balloons while the accused was counting money. On questioning him, the accused minor had said “I simply asked him to hold the balloons for some time. The Police suspected that this was possibly the first time that the victim met the accused.

Sources told TOI that on Sunday evening when the victim left his mother’s stall at Saptah, he met the same vendor again and they both went to the terrace to play. During the course of playing, the accused demanded sexual favors from the victim who refused.

The accused in a fit of rage blocked the way out of the terrace. It is alleged that the boy tried to escape by scaling down the pipeline of the building, but fell to his death. The accused immediately discarded the boy’s pants on the open tank and left. Vasco Police was in the process of recording the boy’s statement till late Thursday evening.

Since the boy is minor, he will be sent to the Apna Ghar and his case will be dealt with the applicable sections.

Mormugao Dy SP Sunita Sawant headed the special team comprising PIs Nilesh Rane, Pravin Powar, Ravi Dessai and Sandesh Chodankar that cracked the case. The team under the supervision of SP Arvind Gawas was racing against the clock, to solve the case before Saptah winds up.

Source: TOI | GOA PRISM | JOEGOAUK