The Mumbai police have arrested a 25-year-old man for allegedly raping and killing a 14-year-old girl in October, the Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday. The police produced the man, identified as Ajay Banvashi, in court on Monday. He was sent to police custody till November 25.

The minor girl had gone missing from her home around 2 pm on October 1, and her father filed a a first information report the next day, alleging that she was abducted. The police found the girl’s body in a bag two days later in Talsari area of Palghar district and registered a murder and rape case on the basis of the postmortem examination report, The Hindu reported.

Banvashi, a resident of Kandivali in north Mumbai, had reportedly abandoned the minor’s body after burning it in Talsari. Banvsashi provides laundry services and is originally from Jaunpur city in Uttar Pradesh.

The police found evidence on the girl’s phone that she was in touch with the suspect. However, Banvashi refuted the claims. “Over the past one month, we questioned Banvanshi repeatedly but were unable to pinpoint his involvement in the crime,” said senior police inspector Raju Kasbe. “He did not display any signs of a suspect such as not turning up for inquiries, switching off his cell phone or leaving the city.”

After repeated questioning, Banvashi confessed to the crime and said that he abandoned the girl’s body in Talasari. The police suspected that the minor had been lured to his house after which he proposed marriage to her. When she refused his advances, the man allegedly broke a bottle on her head and then strangled her to death, they added.

Banvanshi was arrested and charged with murder and for tampering with evidence under the Indian Penal Code. He was also charged with rape and harassment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

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