In a gruesome incident, a seven-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped, raped and murdered by her teenaged cousin in Malhargarh tehsil of Mandsaur. The incident came to the fore on Monday. The police have arrested the accused.
The accused, Honey Othwal, aged 18 years, has been taken into custody by the police and a case against him under sections 363, 376 and 302 of the IPC has been registered.
According to sources, the deceased girl, whose parents live in Malhargarh tehsil, had come to stay at her maternal grandmother's house for the summer vacations.
During the intervening night of May 19 and 20, the minor girl who was in bed with her grandmother was found missing around 3 o'clock in the night.
Not finding her in the bed, the distraught grandmother raised an alarm and the family initiated a frantic search for the missing child.
On being informed the next day, the police took into custody Honey Othwal for interrogation which took the lid off this shocking incident.
Othwal informed the police that he kidnapped the girl in an inebriated condition and took her to a nearby place where he raped her.
After this he strangled her to death and then threw the body in a water tank adjacent to the house.
The body was later recovered on the basis of information.
The body was sent for post mortem examination on Tuesday morning. The police said the report established rape.
Shocked by the incident, the outraged people of the locality gathered at Malhargarh police station and demanded that the accused be handed over to them. Superintendent of Police (SP) MS Verma reached there with police force and calmed the people.
The incident has raised questions over security of minor girls even within the secure walls of the house. The local people are also shocked because this is the third such incident that has come to light in Mandsaur.