Following a nearly two-month long probe into the rape and murder of a 9-year-old in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district, police have found that her teenage brother sexually assaulted her after watching pornographic videos and then killed her.
The horrendous crime of the 13-year-old brother was covered up by the mother and two elder sisters aged 17 and 18. An official said that police cracked the case after the interrogation of 50 people, accused persons and on the basis of evidence.
Superintendent of Police Vivek Singh said, "A nine-year-old girl was raped and strangulated to death under Jawa police station limits on April 24, following which the police had registered a case and started a probe."
"The body of the victim was recovered from the courtyard of her house where she was sleeping at the time of the incident," he said.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Following intense interrogation, cops had found that the victim's teen brother had slept beside her at night. He had watched pornographic videos on his phone, following which he raped his sister.
The 9-year-old then threatened the teen accused about complaining to their father. Afraid by this, the boy strangulated her and woke up his mother to confide her.
As the mother went to check on the victim, she found that the girl was still alive, following which the 13-year-old boy once again strangled her, news agency PTI.
Meanwhile, the two elder sisters also woke up and changed the spot of their beds to mislead the cops later. They then informed the police about the girl's body in the courtyard.
SP Vivek Singh said that the family eventually admitted to the crime after repeated interrogations. The boy, his two sisters and their mother have been detained and further legal steps are being taken, the official said.
"The police received information on April 24 morning that the body of the girl was lying in the courtyard of the house. Evidence relating to rape and murder were found in the post-mortem report and an SIT team was constituted for the probe," Singh said.
The family members, in order to mislead the probe, told the cops that the 9-year-old had died after being by a poisonous insect. Notably, there was no sign of forceful entry into the house and the family members had also denied hearing any sound at night.
Following the interrogation of 50 people and collection of technical evidence, police found that the family members had repeatedly changed their statements. On the basis of suspicion, they were intensely interrogated, following which they admitted the crime," the SP said.