The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

To win the woman of his dream, a 22-year-old man got rid of her 10-year-old son. He kidnapped the boy and later murdered him in south Delhi's forested area before trying to burn off all traces to his crime. The woman lived separately from her husband.

To dodge any suspicion, the murderer even searched for the boy along with the family. The partially burnt body of the child was recovered from the jungles and the accused was arrested, the police said.

The boy had gone missing on Nov.28 after he went to buy some groceries near his house in Bhati Mines in south Delhi. When he did not return, the mother lodged a complaint with the police.

During the probe, it came to light that the woman was estranged from her husband and was living separately with her child. The accused, Bittu, 22, had developed closeness with the woman whom he had known since childhood. Bittu wanted to marry her but she turned down his proposal because of her adolescent son.

"He used to stay with the woman and even became friendly with her son. Her son used to accompany him to the market for ice-creams and even to the forested area nearby.

"On November 28, the accused saw the boy alone outside the house and lured him to the jungle to eat berries. Since, the boy was familiar with him so he went along," said Atul Thakur, DCP South Delhi.

The accused took the boy to Maidan Garhi in a Gramin Seva (shared auto-rickshaw), from where he took him to the jungle on foot, where as per his plan he strangulated him with his 'gamchaa' and threw his body in the muddy pond.

He immediately came back to the woman's home and expressed sympathy for the missing child and even helped her in searching for the boy.
Next day he went back to the jungle area of Maidan Garhi, and found that the dead body was visible in the pond. He retrieved the body and this time hid it under some stones.

He then rushed to a petrol pump in Dera Mod and purchased fuel worth Rs50. He rushed back to the spot in jungle, where the body was, and then doused it in flames to bury all evidence of his crime and any efforts of identification of the child.

However, as the body was wet and the quantity of petrol was less, he could not succeed in burning away the evidences. To remove suspicion of his presence in the area for a long time, he had to rush back, again hiding the remains of the badly charred body under large rocks.

"After another day he went back in the jungle and this time removed the cloths and shoes from the partially charred remains. Put the body inside a plastic bag and threw it back in the waters," the officer added.

The accused confessed he got the idea of the murder after watching a television serial. The highly decomposed body of the boy was recovered a month later, on Dec.26, from the pond in the Ridge area near Maidan Garhi village. It was then that the accused Bittu was arrested.

Indo-Asian News Service