INDORE: Acting on an anonymous phone call, Ratlam police on Wednesday stopped the funeral procession of a six-year-old girl in Jaora town and were shocked when initial autopsy revealed rape and murder.Within hours, Piploda police found out why the girl was being taken for burial in such a hurry, and arrested her stepfather for murder. If he is prosecuted for child rape, he may be one of the first to be tried under the new law that calls for death punishment for rape or children younger than 12.Initial post-mortem showed bleeding and injury in her private parts and that she was strangled, said police. “Rape charges will be added once the detailed post-mortem report confirms it,” Ratlam SP Amit Singh told TOI.Piploda police got an anonymous call in the morning that a child had died mysteriously and was being “hastily buried”. A team went to the village but was told that the body had been taken to Jaora where her mother’s parents live. The police team rushed to Jaora and was just in time to stop the funeral procession.The body was sent for post-mortem. The girl’s mother told police that she was complaining of stomach ache on Tuesday night and was taken to a doctor, where she was declared brought dead, SP Singh said, adding: “Detailed questioning revealed that her husband, the victim’s stepfather, had been beating the girl and making indecent advances at her.”The child’s mother remarried around eight months ago. Police have found that two days back, the stepfather locked the mother in a room and beat up the girl. On Tuesday, he again beat her up and allegedly strangled her, say police. The mother said that she was so terrified of her husband’s fury that she decided to take the girl’s body to her native village for burial.The stepfather has been booked for murder, causing disappearance of evidence, and giving false information. Charges of rape under IPC and POCSO will be added if the postmortem confirms it, the SP said.

Stay updated with all the Latest Indore headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.