Mumbai: Infant kidnapped, buried alive

FOUR DAYS after two persons, including a transgender person, were arrested for allegedly kidnapping and burying alive a three-month-old girl in south Mumbai, the police Tuesday added fresh sections of gangrape after post mortem reports from the JJ Hospital indicated the child had injury marks in her private parts.

Senior Police Inspector Rajkumar Dongare said IPC sections 376 DB (punishment for gang rape on woman under 12 years of age) along with relevant sections of the Protection of Children under Sexual Offences Act, 2012, have been added to the case.

“The post mortem reports, which came in Monday evening, mentioned the child died due to drowning and had suffered genital injuries. We have now added sections of gangrape in the FIR,” Dongare said.

The infant was allegedly kidnapped from her house in south Mumbai in the wee hours on July 9. The police suspect that the accused sexually assaulted the child before burying her alive in a marshy land near the sea. A case of kidnapping was registered after the family members raised suspicion on a transgender person who had threatened the family after the latter refused to give her gift money on the birth of the girl child. The transgender person and her accomplice were later brought to the police station and placed under arrest. The two are currently in police custody.

The police have started a procedure of DNA testing. “We will collect the samples of the two accused and send them for forensic examination,” an officer said.

Meanwhile, the family members of the child have also alleged that the main accused was a man but was pretending to be transgender. “We have named him as a transgender in the FIR. We will send him for a medical examination that will help us ascertain whether he is a transgender person,” an investigating officer of the case said.