A 4-year-old girl was gangraped and murdered in Bhayander on outskirts of Mumbai
Three men, who allegedly raped and murdered a four-year-old child in Bhayander near Mumbai, have been arrested by the police. Police say they lured the child away with a chocolate, sexually assaulted her, killed and buried her body and then went off to enjoy a meal of fish and rice at a nearby restaurant.
The fourth accused in the case is still missing, the police said.
The child had gone missing from her home at Azad Nagar on January 9. "She was playing outside and was last seen around 8 pm," said her father, who drives a tempo.
Two days later after her hastily-buried body was spotted.
"We receive a tip off on the evening of January 12 that a cat was eating something like a body - the legs of a child were visible. After investigation it was found that it was the dead body of the 4-year-old," said senior police officer of the area Mahesh Patil.
The police said the main accused had lured her away with the chocolates. She was taken to a forested area 200 meters from the area where she lived. "There she was sexually assaulted by at least one of them and hit on the head. The men then buried the body," said Mr Patil.
The arrested men, the police said, have even confessed to going for a fish and rice meal afterwards.
A postmortem examination has confirmed the rape. The report also says the blow on the head had caused her death.
Police believe that the man who is the main accused was well acquainted with the child and her family. He and the others worked as labourers in the locality, usually loading and unloading trucks.