9-Year-Old Girl Killed By Uncle For Soiling Toilet, Body Found Dumped In Cement-Filled Drum

Two people were arrested in connection with a nine-year-old girl’s murder after her body was found buried in a mountain pass in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Wednesday.

Police began investigating the case on Dec.4 after the girl’s mother filed a missing person complaint. The woman told police that her brother-in-law, 38-year-old Prakash Hari Rathod, was looking after one of her daughters after her husband’s demise and took the girl with him in October under the pretext of enrolling her in school. For a month, the man called the girl’s mother regularly and kept her updated about her daughter. However, he suddenly went incommunicado following which she filed the complaint.

Investigation revealed that the man had not enrolled the girl in school and that the family was missing. Police traced the man’s wife to her maternal home and detained her for questioning. During interrogation, the woman revealed that instead of enrolling the victim in school, the accused made her do household chores. She revealed that the girl soiled the toilet after use which irritated Rathod. The accused thrashed the girl for dirtying the toilet. When the girl continued to soil the toilet even after the thrashing, the man strangled her to death on Nov. 7.

The accused along with his wife buried the girl’s body in a drum. A few days later, the couple poured cement into the drum after smell began to emanate from it. On Nov. 12, Rathod with the help of a friend named Akash, placed the drum in a tempo and drove it a mountain pass where they dumped the body.

“The body of the girl and her clothes, recovered after breaking through the cement has been sent for analysis and reports are awaited,” police said.

While Rathod remained at large, his wife and friend were arrested Wednesday. They were charged with murder.