Schoolboy Allegedly Admits To Killing 1-Year-Old To Exact Revenge On The Child's Dad; Arrested

A 13-year-old boy in India has been arrested after he admitted to kidnapping and murdering a 1-year-old girl to exact revenge on the child's father, police said Monday.

The incident happened in Lucknow, a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, last week. The unidentified infant went missing on May 12 while she was at a party at a relative’s house with her family, Hindustan Times reported.

The child's body was recovered the next day from a water tank at a school where the teen boy studied, and the boy was taken into custody for questioning.

During interrogation, the boy confessed to the murder and said he resorted to the crime because the child's father abused his family frequently.

"When asked about the sequence of events, the minor boy confessed that four days back, he was allegedly slapped by the deceased's father who also used to abuse his family members, humiliating them in full public view. Hence he planned the murder," Syed Ali Abbas, a senior investigating officer, told The Times of India.

The police said the boy initially tried to mislead the officials by saying he saw two people in masks committing the crime before he confessed the crime.

"The boy said he kidnapped the girl after finding her alone outside the party venue and smothered her to death. He later hid the body in the tank after tying a brick in the girl’s legs," the officer said.

However, a detailed investigation later revealed that no other culprits were involved in the murder and the teen was charged with murder, kidnapping and disappearance of evidence. He was produced before Juvenile Justice Board on Monday.

Meanwhile, the police said the teenager will be subjected to a mental health evaluation to determine if he suffered from any trauma.

Earlier this month, an 8-year-old boy from India's capital city of Delhi was allegedly abducted and killed by his 13-year-old friend who wanted to exact revenge on the boy who fought with him. After the child went missing, the police questioned the teenager who confessed that he had assaulted the boy and fled with his phone.