Blood-soaked body of 6-month-old baby found in MP’s Indore, rape suspected

The accused was seen carrying the infant in CCTV footage. The post mortem, conducted at the MY Hospital in Indore, suggested the infant had been raped, a source said.

A woman holds a candle and placard seeking an end to sexual violence against women and children. The body of a six-month-old girl was found in Indore, and it is suspected she might have been raped.
A woman holds a candle and placard seeking an end to sexual violence against women and children. The body of a six-month-old girl was found in Indore, and it is suspected she might have been raped. (AP File Photo)

The blood-soaked body of a six-month-old infant was recovered from the basement of a building in Indore, a police official said on Friday.

Police identified the accused as Sunil Bheel (21), claiming that he was seen in CCTV footage, at around 4.45am on Friday, carrying the infant on his shoulder.

The post-mortem of the infant, which was carried out at the state-run MY Hospital in Indore, suggested that she might have been raped before being killed as her private parts bore an injury mark, a source said.

“The body of the infant was recovered from the basement of a commercial building in Rajwada area. The accused, Sunil Bheel, had kidnapped her early today morning when she was asleep with her parents outside the Rajwada Fort. The accused was sleeping close to the family,” said HC Mishra, deputy inspector-general of police, Indore.

The accused and the infant’s parents knew each other and were in the business of selling balloons, Mishra said.

“The accused is seen carrying the infant in CCTV images of around 4:45am today. He then took her to the basement of the building, some 50 metres away from where the family was sleeping, and her body was recovered in the afternoon,” he said.

“The infant had an injury on her head. The accused probably threw her to the ground. However, only the post-mortem report will verify if she died due to this or whether she was smothered,” Mishra said.

“We are going to arrest the accused shortly,” he added.

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