The tragic story of Rupali has shades of the sensational Rinku Patil case. According to police Rupali had squealed about Neeraj's love affair with one Supriya Sawant to the girl's mother. Supriya, under tremendous pressure from her parents, had agreed to break her relationship with Neeraj and even shown her willingness to tie him a rakhi. Supriya later wrote a letter to Neeraj saying that their affair had ended and that hence forth she would treat him like her brother.

Neeraj, apparently insulted by the offer, and planned an attack on Rupali holding her responsible. Yogendra, a friend and classmate in the Don Bosco school, was co-opted in the plan. And the boys did their home-work before executingthe murder.

For a few days they studied Rupali's movements carefully. Rupali, whose father had died sometime back, hailed from Konkan and had been living with her uncle Rajendra Bagirle's family. She used to take care of his kids (a two-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter) when the couple went out to work. As such for a better part of the day she used be by herself with the kids.

On Saturday, the boys armed with a kerosene can barged into Rupali's house. The girl's dying declaration says that Neeraj hurled a volley of abuses on her before dousing her with kerosene from the can his friend was carrying.

He then set her ablaze and fled the scene. It was the screams of Rupali's niece and nephew that alerted the neighbours. But by the time Vishnu Nagar police could be alerted and the victim could be rushed to the Shastri Nagar Hospital, she had already sustained 90 per cent burns. She was later transferred to the KEM hospital, Mumbai where she died in the early hours on Sunday.

A distraught RajendraBagirle said, ``My sister will be shocked to hear of her daughter's death. I feel responsible.'' He and the other neighbours who spoke on condition of anonymity alleged that Neeraj was a wastrel and was given to smoking and chewing gutka.

``Yogendra was the quiet types and we were quite surprised how he grew so close to Neeraj.'' Both the boys' families refused to comment.

Sr PSI S R Shinde of the Vishnu Nagar police station said the boys have been put in custody at children's remand home in Bhiwandi. Cases under section 302, 452 and 34 of Indian Penal Code have been registered against them.