Mumbai: Man sexually assaults, murders 2-yr-old stepdaughter, arrested

He then allegedly sexually assaulted her, gagged her, and inserted a wooden object into her private part. He later strangulated her using his hands, the police said.

“After the child died, the accused man concocted a story to save himself. He called up his wife and told her that a wooden block fell on the girl and she was lying unconscious. Her mother rushed back home and, along with the accused, took the girl to the nearby public hospital. At the hospital, the girl was declared dead,” a senior police officer said.

The police were informed, and as the woman became suspicious of her second husband, she fought with him at the hospital. The police detained him and subjected him to sustained interrogation, during which he admitted to having killed the girl, the police said.

A preliminary probe revealed the accused man hated the child as she was from his wife’s first husband, a police officer said. He also told the police that he viewed the girl as an obstacle between him and his wife. Hence he was frustrated with her and on Thursday killed her.

“The accused was immediately arrested and was produced in court. The court has remanded him to police custody. We have arrested the accused on charges of murder, among others, and are further investigating the matter,” said Navnath Dhavale, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 6.

The police have arrested the accused man under sections 103(3), 64(2)(F), 64(2)(1), 64(2)(m), 65(2), 66, and 238 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and 4, 6, 8, and 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Though the police have invoked sections of the POCSO Act in the case, they are yet to get a report and a confirmation on allegations of sexual assault from the doctors.