The Doraha police have arrested a repeat offender for sodomising and strangling to death a 14-year-old differently abled boy, whose body was recovered from a pond in a forest area near Doraha on May 6.The accused in the custody of police in Ludhiana on Monday. (HT Photo)The accused, identified as Mani Singh, 35, a resident of Mohalla Jaildar in Doraha, was apprehended from Bhawanigarh in Sangrur, where he was working as a labourer. He confessed to the crime during questioning, police said.According to superintendent of police (detective) Pawanjit Chaudhary, the accused sodomised the boy before strangling him to death. “The accused took the boy from outside a gurdwara to the forest area on May 5, where he committed the crime and dumped his naked body in a pond, which was discovered the following day.” the SP said.“Both the accused and the victim were homeless. Singh was expelled by his family due to his criminal past and had been living near the gurdwara. The victim, who had lost his father, lived with his differently abled mother in a shanty and also resided outside the same shrine,” the SP added.The police initially lodged an FIR under Sections 103 (murder) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against unidentified persons. Following the confession, Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was added. The investigation was challenging as there were no eyewitnesses and no CCTV cameras in the forest area. Police scanned CCTV footage from surrounding areas, which led them to the suspect.Inspector Akash Dutt, station house officer (SHO) at Doraha police station, said Singh has a criminal past. “He was convicted for attempting to rape a 69-year-old woman after barging into her home. That case was registered on July 7, 2018, under IPC Sections 376 (punishment for rape), 380 (theft in a dwelling house), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 511 (attempting to commit offenses). He served five years in jail and was released in 2024.Another FIR under Sections 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, 380 (theft in a dwelling house), 427 (mischief causing damage), 506 (criminal intimidation), 148 (rioting with a deadly weapon), and 149 (constructive liability) of IPC was lodged against him on January 8, 2018.