RAIPUR: A six-year-old girl was brutally tortured, raped and murdered in Chhattisgarh’s Durg city Sunday. Her body – covered in cigarette burns, bites and scratches – was found stuffed under the rear seat of a car. Incensed by the savage crime, the neighbourhood reacted violently and tried to burn down the house of the car owner, although he was later cleared as a suspect.
Police later arrested the child’s uncle and charged him with rape and murder under BNS and Pocso Act. CM Vishnudeo Sai promised the ‘harshest punishment’ to the culprit. The little girl had gone out for Chaitra Navratri ‘kanya bhoj’ around 8am Sunday – Ram Navami – to her relative’s place, just 500m from her home. She never returned. The child’s body was sent for postmortem. Police said preliminary report pointed not only at sexual assault but also gruesome torture. Initial probe indicated the possibility of more than one person involved in the rape, torture and murder. A special team interrogated the suspects and found the girl’s uncle was giving misleading answers. Eventually, he confessed to the crime.
