Six men were arrested for their alleged involvement in raping a 16-year-old girl and killing her and her two family members with stones in Chhattisgarh Korba district, the police said.
The accused allegedly killed the girl, her father and his four-year-old granddaughter with sticks and stones and dumped them in a forest area, the police added.
The incident occurred near Gadhuproda village on January 29, but came to light on Tuesday, following which six accused were arrested in this connection, Korba Superintendent of Police Abhishek Meena said.
The accused were identified as Santram Majhwar, 45, Abdul Jabbar, 29, Anil Kumar Sarthi, 20, Pardeshi Ram Panika, 35, Anand Ram Panika, 25, and Uamshankar Yadav, 21, all natives of Satrenga village in the district, he said.
"The man (the girl's father), a resident of Barpani village, had been working as a cattle grazer at the house of prime accused Manjhwar since July last year," he said.
As per the preliminary information, the accused, Manjhwar, was on his way to drop the man, his daughter and granddaughter to their village on his motorcycle on January 29. On the way, they stopped at Korai village and Manjhwar consumed liquor, following which other accused also joined him, the police official said.
The accused took the three victims to the foot of a hill surrounded by forest near Gadhuproda, where Manjhwar and another accused allegedly raped the teenage girl.
The accused then used stones and sticks to kill all three and dumped them in the forest, he said.
"When the man's son lodged their missing report at Lemru police station on Tuesday, police swung into action and rounded up six accused following their interrogation," the Superintendent of Police said.
Based on the statement of the accused, the police reached the crime spot, where they found the injured girl alive and two others dead.
She was immediately rushed to a local hospital, but died on the way due to injuries, he said.
The victims belonged to Pahadi Korwa tribal community, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), the police said.
The accused have been booked under sections IPC sections 302 (murder), 376 (2)G (gangrape) and provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the police said.
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