Haryana: A 35-year-old woman and her five-year-old daughter were allegedly gangraped, and the child was smothered to death, following a verbal spat in Haryana’s Jind, police reported on Monday, as per The Indian Express report.
Police have arrested all the accused, three men and a 13-year-old, based on detailed information. A local court remanded the three men, identified as Hameed Khan, also known as Amit, 46, Shiva, 19, and Biru, 18, to one-day police custody. The minor has been placed in a juvenile correctional facility.
The incident occurred on the night of April 21, but the victim filed a police complaint three days later, leading to the arrest of the accused on April 26. All the accused reside in the same locality as the victim, who works as a ragpicker.
According to police reports, the four accused were allegedly consuming alcohol near the woman’s shanty, which made her object to it. This led to a heated argument, after which Khan allegedly dragged her to a nearby rubbish dump and raped her. Police said the child, who followed the woman upon hearing her screams, was also sexually assaulted by the other accused. When the minor girl cried out in pain, the accused are alleged to have smothered her to death and then took turns raping the woman.
The woman’s husband was not at home at the time of the incident. On the morning of April 22, locals and the family discovered the child’s body. "They noticed some injury marks on her neck apart from some bloodstains. However, considering it a natural death, the family buried the body," said Jind’s Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Sonakshi Singh. The woman regained consciousness two days later, informed her family, and filed a police complaint.
On April 24, the police exhumed the girl’s body and sent it for post-mortem examination to the BPS Government Medical College for Women in Sonipat district. "The autopsy report stated that the five-year-old had been gang-raped before being strangulated to death. A medical examination of the mother also confirmed gang-rape," the police officer added.
Following the autopsy report, the police added charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, along with sections about gang-rape and murder under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).