Parents among three held for death of 11-year-old girl

The parents of an 11-year-old girl and their relative were arrested today for allegedly torturing and killing her, police said.
The accused - Ambaji Bekre (41), his wife Meenaxi (37) and their relative Madhuri Shinde (29) - are residents of Virar in adjoining Palghar district, an official release said.
The incident took place on December 16 but the arrests were made today, it said, adding the trio has been charged with murder and other offences.
The girl had been suffering from some ailments, including constipation, a week before the incident. Instead of taking her to a doctor, her mother Meenaxi Bekre, who believed in witchcraft and home remedies, and the girl's aunt Shinde decided to treat her at home, the release said.

On the fateful day, her mother used witchcraft to treat the girl, a student of Class 6. Meenaxi Bekre sprinkled 'kumkum' (a powder used during social and religious events) on her daughter. She then sat on her stomach and started pressing it, the relese said.
Meenaxi Bekre inserted her fingers in her month and private parts as part of the treatment. As the victim groaned in pain, her aunt tightly held her legs, it said.

As the pain became unbearable, the victim started shouting. Her mother gagged her and in the process the girl died, the release said.
During this entire episode, the girl's father did not intervene or inform the police, it said.

Next morning, the girl was taken to a doctor, who declared the girl brought dead.
Based on information given by the doctor, police registered a case of accidental death and sent the body for a post-mortem. The post-mortem revealed the torture suffered by the girl and also the cause of her death, the release said.
Police took the couple into custody and their interrogation revealed the entire sequence of events. The couple and their relative (Shinde) were subsequently placed under arrest, it added.