Arka and Sagar had been friends for years, their families were neighbours and on good terms too, right up until the time Arka killed his friend's kid sister, writes Debopriya Nandy.

Neighbours were said to have caught the 14-year-old stealing mobile phones, but forgave him because of his age. Sagar, in spite of being aware of the nature of his friend showed him a new Ipod, since Arka knew how to load music and pictures.

Arka made his first attempt to steal it when once the Ipod was sent for repair. He went to the repair shop as Sagar's brother and claimed the gadget, but could not convince the assistant. Then he made his next move to visit Sagar's place when he wasn't at home. He managed to take Sagar's ten year old sister Siuli out with the Ipod, by making a promise to take her photograph.

Arka took the girl to the Mayurakshi dam in West Bengal, saying that it would provide a good background to the picture. At first he just tried to snatch the Ipod from her, but on being denied, he hit her in the face, throwing her down the 40 foot canal embankment. Not just that, on finding that she wasn't dead, he smashed her head with a stone and hid the body behind a hedge.

Police officers stated that they were shocked by the way the teenager admitted to his crime, calm and showing no regret. X