Thane, Aug 14 (PTI) A man allegedly beat his four-year-old niece to death last year and he and his wife then wrapped the body in a mattress and dumped it at an isolated place in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, police said.
After probing the case of the ‘missing’ girl for nearly a year, the Thane police made a breakthrough on Monday by arresting her uncle and aunt and managed to recover only the victim’s skull, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone III, Kalyan, Atul Zende said on Wednesday.
The victim’s father, Rahul Ghadge, was in jail last year. With no one to take care of the child, her maternal aunt, Aparna Anil Makwana alias Aparna Prathamesh Kambri (22), and her husband Prathamesh Praveen Kambri (23), residents of Chinchwali on Bhivpuri Road in Raigad, took her in, the official said in a release.
“The couple initially claimed they were caring for the child, but in reality, she faced harsh treatment. Being just four years’ old and not fully aware of proper behaviour, she made innocent mistakes at home. One such incident enraged her uncle, who assaulted her fatally,” Zende said.
The child’s relative, Jyoti Satpute, from Kalyan in Thane district neighbouring Raigad, lodged a complaint with the Kolsewadi police last year, alleging that Aparna and Prathamesh had kidnapped her niece.
The police initially registered a kidnapping case on October 6, 2024 and pursued it from all possible angles, the official said.
Based on information against the couple and a tip that they would visit their home in Chinchwali, a police team set up a trap and detained them on Monday.
“During intensive interrogation, the couple confessed to the murder. They admitted that after the girl died from the beating, they placed the body in a sack, wrapped it in a mattress, and disposed of it in a deserted area in Chinchwadi Shivara at night,” Zende said.
The police could only recover the victim’s skull, which has been sent for a forensic examination, the official said.
“The couple has been placed in police custody following a court order, and further investigation is underway to recover any remaining evidence,” he said. PTI COR GK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.