Soldier sexually assaulted and killed adopted daughter, wife tried to cover up the fact

The couple are residents of Madurai.

chennai:

In a shocking crime incident in Madurai, an army man and his wife have been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting and murdering their adopted 11-year-old daughter, police said on Tuesday. The woman was the girl’s aunt, who took her in after her mother died and she was abandoned by her father.

Investigators said the man, a Subedar in the Indian Army serving in Jammu and Kashmir, sexually abused the girl after returning home on a month’s leave last week. Officials at Umachikumar police station said the girl complained to her aunt, who failed to call the police and tried to cover up the incident.

The abuse came to light on March 22 when the couple took their dead child to Madurai Government Hospital, claiming they found her unconscious. An autopsy revealed sexual abuse and the couple were arrested on Sunday after two days of questioning. “The man suffocated the child to death,” a police officer told New Delhi TV.

The couple were charged with murder and under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.

The girl’s mother died when she was an infant, and she and her siblings were later abandoned by their father. Since then, she has been raised by her aunt and military uncle, an official said.