A powerloom worker, who had been on the run in a rape and murder case involving a six-year-old girl, allegedly sexually assaulted and killed another child in Maharashtra`s Thane district, police said on Saturday, reported news agency PTI.

The police have arrested the 33-year-old man in connection with the incident that occurred in Bhiwandi town on October 1, an official said.

The accused allegedly raped and strangled his seven-year-old neighbour and stuffed her body in a gunny sack before fleeing the scene on Wednesday, he said, reported PTI.

He was caught by the police while he was preparing to flee to Madhubani in Bihar on the same night, the official said, reported PTI.

According to the police, the victim had stepped out of her house to relieve herself but never returned. Her parents carried out a frantic search and found the small bucket that the girl had carried with her outside the accused`s house, which was locked, reported PTI.

They broke down the door and found the child`s body stuffed in a gunny sack, police said.

The official said the accused had similarly raped and murdered a six-year-old girl in 2023 and was arrested and lodged in Thane Central Jail, reported PTI.

He had fled police custody when he was brought to court for a hearing in August, and had returned to stay in the victim`s neighbourhood a few days ago, he said, reported PTI.

The local police have registered a case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against the accused, the official said, reported PTI.

Thane court sentences senior citizen to 3 years RI for molesting minor girls at housing complex

In another case, a court in Maharashtra`s Thane district sentenced a 75-year-old man to three years of rigorous imprisonment for molesting two minor girls in a housing complex, reported PTI.

Special Judge Ruby U Malvankar convicted the accused, Pratapmal Hansraj Kothari, of charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and section 354 (assaulting or using criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code, reported PTI.

A copy of the order dated October 1 was made available on Saturday.

Special public prosecutor Varsha Chandane informed the court that the accused had molested a 12-year-old girl, who was visiting the complex during her Diwali vacations in 2020. The child informed her mother, following which a case was registered, and during a probe, the police found that the septuagenarian had similarly molested another child in the locality, reported PTI.

The court relied on the consistent testimony of the victims and electronic evidence, including CCTV footage, to establish guilt.

(With inputs from PTI)

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