7-yr-old sexually assaulted, killed

Mumbai: A seven-year-old was found brutally murdered not far from her residence at Madh, Malad West, on Tuesday. Her grandparents had reported her missing on Monday evening. A post-mortem examination revealed that she had also been sexually assaulted. Malwani police have rounded up a few people for questioning but no arrests have been made yet.
Chanchal Singh was a Class I student of a school near INS Hamla.She lived with her grandparents at Patilwadi. Her parents lived separately with their second child. Around 4pm on Monday, neighbours had spotted Chanchal playing with children in the locality. When she did not return home, her grandparents got worried and sought help from their acquaintances to look for her. Around 7.30pm, the group reached Malwani police station where they lodged a missing person complaint. The police converted it into a kidnapping case, in accordance with Supreme Court directions on minors. Around 2am on Tuesday, Chanchal's body was found near a creek at Patilwadi, wrapped in a mattress.
“We have an ongoing property dispute with a couple of men for decades. Three months ago, these men had assaulted my wife. They had also set me ablaze,” said Tukaram Jadhav, Chanchal’s grandfather. “We have told the police that we suspect the involvement of these men in our grandchild’s murder,” he alleged.
Officials said they suspect a local’s involvement. “The crime is barbaric. The victim had sustained a head injury, had marks on her neck besides vaginal injuries. She was smothered to death. There’s a possibility that the accused thought she would identify him later if he spared her life,” said a police official.
“Chanchal’s mother left her at my doorstep when she was two months old. With a lot of difficulty, I got her enrolled in a good school. She was doing well and we were very proud of her. Now she has been snatched away from us. We want justice,” said Jadhav, who has not been on talking terms with his daughter ever since she had an inter-caste marriage with a painter, Ranjeet Singh. She used to work as a guard at a call centre and is pregnant with her third child now.
"My wife is in shock. My father-in-law wanted to demonstrate at the police station with Chanchal’s body but we dissuaded him. We only wanted a decent funeral for her,” said Ranjeet.