A JEALOUS stepmum has been arrested after allegedly forcing her son, 14, and his friends to gang rape and kill her nine-year-old stepdaughter.

Her corpse was covered in axe wounds, had the eyes gouged out and been doused in acid when it was found half a mile from her home in the Baramulla district of Kashmir in India on Tuesday.

3 Police superintendent Imtiyaz Hussain, left, gives a statement following the horrific incident

Cops say the girl’s father spent more time with the child and his second wife than his first spouse, Fahmeeda.

Police say this prompted the envious 36-year-old to force her son and his pals to rape and kill the girl.

She allegedly told her son and his two teenage friends, 14 and 19, to take turns raping the girl in the woods.

Fahmeeda is then said to have throttled the child while her son hit her in the head with an axe.

3 Hussain burst into tears while giving his statement

Police superintendent Imtiyaz Hussain said that the girl’s dad has two wives, one who is from a nearby village and the other from the eastern state of Jharkhand.

Hussain also said that the suspect had a longstanding grudge against her husband’s other family.

During questioning, the woman reportedly told cops that he spent most of his time with them and that the little girl was very dear to him.

3 Members of India's youth congress demand justice for a girl who was gang raped last year Credit: Getty - Contributor

Hussain said that while they were making their way to the forest, Fahmeeda signalled her 14-year-old son "to be ready".

Two of the suspects dumped the victim’s body in the bushes and attempted to cover it.

Local authorities said all the weapons, including an axe and a knife had been found.

A 28-year-old man, who is believed to have met up with the group in the forest, has also been arrested.

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Hussain told AFP that the teens had confessed to the crime adding: “They will be sent to a juvenile home and dealt with according to the state’s juvenile law.”

This is the second case of its kind this year in Kashmir after the brutal gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua.

The child was held captive in a temple and sexually assaulted for a week before being strangled and beaten to death with a stone in January.