Mumbai: Mother watches while boyfriend rapes, murders her two-year-old

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The Malwani police have arrested a 30-year-old woman and her 19-year-old boyfriend for the alleged rape and murder of the woman's two-and-half-year-old daughter. Police said that interrogation revealed that the man repeatedly raped the child while the mother watched the toddler scream in pain.

The case came to light when the child was brought to the General Hospital in Malwani's Janakalyan Nagar for treatment in the wee hours of Monday. The doctor checked and declared her dead during examination. But, when he discovered injuries to the child's private parts, he immediately alerted the police.

According to police sources, the woman had divorced her husband three years ago. She was pregnant at the time. She then started living with her mother and is unemployed.

The accused, also unemployed, lives with his parents. He was a vagabond in the area. He met the the woman several months ago and they got into a relationship.

"On Sunday night, when the woman's mother was out for work, the man came to the woman's house and the two got intimate. The child, who had been sleeping, suddenly woke up and started crying, so the woman brought her into the bed with her," a police officer said.

"The man then expressed his desire to have sex with the child, and with the permission of the mother, he raped the child repeatedly in front of the woman. Despite the child screaming in pain, the mother did nothing to help her. To stop the child from screaming, the man placed his hand tightly on her mouth and she died of suffocation," the officer said.

The officer said that the two then took the child to the government hospital where the mother lied to the police saying the child suffered from epilepsy. But, when the doctor saw the severe injuries to the child, he alerted the police.

"Based on the medical evaluation, the Malwani police registered a case and arrested the woman and her boyfriend under relevant sections related to rape, murder and under POCSO.

The post-mortem report revealed that the girl's internal organs and her private parts were severely damaged in the brutal assault. Her death occurred due to suffocation, which is suspected to have happened when she began screaming during the rape.

"This act is so heinous that even thinking about it sends shivers down the spine. It is a crime of such a grave nature that no amount of punishment would ever be enough. Therefore, after consulting with senior police officers, I have sought permission to pursue this case in a fast-track court, so that the accused can be given the harshest possible punishment without delay," said another officer from Malwani police.