The father and stepmother of a seven-year-old girl have been detained in Ghaziabad for allegedly beating the child to death at their home in the Dasna area on Sunday, police said on Monday.
Police said the couple has “confessed” to assaulting the girl but have not been formally arrested or charged, as they are still waiting for the child’s autopsy report and a formal complaint from her maternal family.
“They accepted that they both beat her up severely, and the injuries on the body of the girl appear to confirm this… An investigation is underway, and legal action will be initiated once a formal complaint is received,” saidassistant commissioner of police (Wave City circle) Priyashri Pal.
The incident occurred under the jurisdiction of the Wave City police station. Authorities identified the detained as Mohammad Akram, a vendor, and his wife, Nisha.
According to police, the couple took the unconscious girl to a hospital late Sunday night, where she was declared dead. Her body has been sent for postmortem examination.
The ACP said they have not yet filed a first information report (FIR) in the case as they are “awaiting a complaint” from the girl’s family “With the autopsy report, we will ascertain her cause of death. Legal action will be initiated once a formal complaint is received,” Pal added.
Mohammad Muzammil, the brother of the girl’s biological mother, told HT that he has informed police that the stepmother and father used to “regularly beat” his sister’s three children. “They beat up the seven-year-old on Saturday and sent her to the terrace at night as some sort of punishment. They severely assaulted her again on Sunday and later took her to a hospital, where she died,” he said.
The family was preparing for the child’s burial in their native village in Muradnagar. Muzammil told HT that they will file a police complaint “after the funeral rites are completed”.
Police officials confirmed they are awaiting that complaint and the autopsy results before proceeding with an FIR and arrests. “The family is busy with the autopsy and the burial of the body. We are waiting for them to complete these formalities,” said Wave City SHO Sarvesh Kumar.