40-year-old man held for killing toddler in Gurgaon

A 40-year-old man was Sunday arrested for killing a two-year-old girl near here after she got separated from his brother, police said.

The man - identified as Govardhan from Hathin area of Haryana - will be produced before a court Monday.

The body of the two-year-old girl was found in Manesar Friday night.

Her parents are rag-pickers. They hail from West Bengal and live in a slum area near Manesar.

Police said the girl Nisha got separated from her seven-year-old brother on Mahashivratri Feb 17.

A shopkeeper at the Mahashivratri fair had sheltered her, and later Govardhan, claiming to be her neighbour, took her with him.

Govardhan told police he took the child to his room and in an inebriated state strangled her when she started crying.

The man later tried to bury the body in a deserted area near his house.

Govardhan, who is a sanitation worker, is married and has five children. His wife was on visit to her parent's house in Hathin with their children when the crime took place.

Police denied the child was sexually assaulted before the killing.