English
English
English
Mumbai Police investigate the death of an 18-month-old toddler in Goregaon East. (Img: X)
Mumbai: Mumbai Police have registered a murder case against a 10-year-old girl in connection with the death of an 18-month-old toddler in Goregaon East, after CCTV footage allegedly showed the older child pushing the toddler into a duct inside their residential building.
The case was initially treated as an accidental death. However, the investigation took a different turn after police examined the building’s surveillance footage and received a formal complaint from the deceased child’s mother.
The incident took place on October 14 in a residential complex in Goregaon East. The toddler, identified as Ariba Khan, was reportedly playing with a cat in the common passage outside her family’s sixth-floor flat when she went missing.
According to reports, her mother asked her elder son to look for her after she could not locate the child. The boy subsequently spotted his sister lying on the ground floor and alerted the family. Ariba was rushed to a hospital, where she was declared dead.
Police initially registered an accidental death report and began investigating the circumstances surrounding the toddler’s fall. An examination of CCTV footage from the building allegedly revealed that the 10-year-old neighbour had approached the toddler near the elevator and pushed her into the duct.
The footage reportedly became a crucial part of the investigation, prompting police to register a murder FIR following the mother’s complaint. The case has been registered under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with murder. The allegations against the child remain subject to the investigation and the applicable juvenile justice process.
Given the accused’s age, the matter is governed by the legal safeguards applicable to children in conflict with the law. The girl was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, which directed that she remain in the care of her parents and undergo counselling.
Section 21 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provides protection from criminal liability to children above seven and below 12 years who have not attained sufficient maturity to understand the nature and consequences of their conduct. Whether this statutory protection applies depends on the assessment of the child’s understanding and maturity.
The proceedings will therefore have to account for the child’s age and the safeguards prescribed under juvenile justice law, alongside the investigation into the toddler’s death. Police are continuing to examine the circumstances of the incident and the available evidence.
