Shillong: Police investigating the tragic death of four-year-old Insaphira Lyngdoh Mawnai in Nongrah Nonglum have identified a 13-year-old boy from the neighbourhood as being connected to the case.
The child drowned on September 15 in a water-filled cavity at a nearby construction site, just 100 metres from her home.
East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem confirmed on Wednesday that the boy, a frequent visitor to the victim’s house, admitted before the Child Welfare Committee that he had accompanied her to the site on the day of the incident.
According to his statement, the two had climbed over a wall and taken a small path leading to the under-construction building.
Rainwater had collected in a gap between the structure and its retaining wall.
The juvenile told officials that he slipped while washing mud from his feet and accidentally pulled the girl into the water. She drowned, while he suffered minor injuries.
In panic, he reportedly placed a stone on her body and returned home. Later, he even joined the search operation with his mother when the community was looking for the missing girl.
To divert attention, he fabricated a story about masked men in a black Scorpio abducting her.
The case was first reported on September 14 when the victim’s father told Rynjah Police that his daughter had disappeared around 8 am.
A search involving police, Village Defence Party members and a dog squad failed to trace her that day.
The following morning, a labourer spotted her body at the construction site, prompting the police to register a murder case and form a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Postmortem results confirmed that death was due to drowning, ruling out sexual assault or prior injuries.
SP Syiem noted that despite the search, the body had remained undetected earlier because rainwater and cement sediment had concealed it from view. “It could only be seen from very close,” he explained.
The boy, who lives barely 50 metres from the victim’s home, has been sent to a juvenile home for observation after medical examination and production before the Juvenile Justice Board.
Police are also looking into his background.
While the juvenile insists the death was accidental, investigators have not ruled out other possibilities.
“It is established that the girl died from drowning at the site, and that the boy was involved. Whether it was purely accidental remains under investigation. The SIT has 90 days to complete its probe,” Syiem said.
