Baramullah: A nine-year-old girl was gang-raped and killed in Kashmir’s Baramulla district. The victim’s step-mother planned the crime and instigated her 14-year-old son to commit the deed. The police have arrested both accused.

On August 4, the victim’s father had informed the police about the disappearance of his nine-year-old girl, after which the cops filed a case under Section 363 and started looking for her.

When the police recovered the body of the victim from a forest near Uri, it was found that the victim’s eyes were gouged out and the body burnt with acid.

During an investigation, it was revealed that the victim’s father had two wives; and the victim’s step-mother had a grudge against the girl because the father allegedly spent more time with the girl and her mother than with the step-mother.

The victim was also the closest to the father among all her siblings, thereby invoking jealousy among the children.

The step-mother took the victim to a nearby forest where her 14-year-old son and his friends aged 19, 14 and 28 were present.

After gang-raping the girl, the victim’s step-brother hit her on the head with an axe, killing her on the spot. After the murder, the boys poured acid on the victim’s body, including her genitals, and gouged her eyes out with a sharp knife. All of this happened in the presence of the victim’s step-mother.

The body was then dumped in the bushes and covered with twigs and branches.

The police have recovered all the arms and acid bottles used in the murder and have arrested all the accused.