Eight-year-old girl who was raped by 16 men died. [Representative image] | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Key Highlights The police are waiting for the postmortem report to ascertain the exact cause of the minor’s death The deceased girl’s stepfather recalled her, saying that she was a smart child and aspired to be a police officer The horrifying case surfaced in July 2019, when the minor’s mother approached the police and lodged a complaint stating that’s several relatives have raped her two daughters since 2017

Chennai: An eight-year-old girl, who over a period of four years was allegedly raped by 16 men including her relatives, passed away on Thursday. The parents of the child said that she died due to prolonged illness. However, the police are waiting for the postmortem report to ascertain the exact cause of her death.

Meanwhile, a case has been lodged under Section 174 (unnatural death) of the Indian Penal Code. The horrifying case surfaced in July 2019, when the minor’s mother approached the police and lodged a complaint stating that’s several relatives have raped her two daughters since 2017.

Minor complained of stomach ache

According to the New Indian Express, on Thursday, her younger daughter felt pain in her stomach and entered into the toilet twice, first at 9:40 pm and then again at 10:10 pm. She stayed inside the toilet for a long time and did not respond. Following this, the mother broke the door and stepped into the washroom. She found that her daughter was lying on the floor in an unconscious state. Immediately, she was taken to a private hospital where the doctors pronounced her dead on arrival. Later, the body of the minor was sent to a government hospital for conducting a postmortem.

'Smart child' aspired to be a police officer

The elder daughter of the woman is 10 years of age and currently is a student at a private school in Chennai. The mother is employed with a private firm and after remarrying she relocated to the city in 2018. Reportedly, the daughters were living with their mother when the alleged sexual assaults happened. After registering the police complaint, she relocated to Chennai fearing for her daughters’ lives. The deceased girl’s stepfather recalled her, saying that she was a smart child and aspired to be a police officer.

Parents noticed behavioural changes

The step-father said that for a long time they were not aware that both of their daughters were being abused sexually. In July 2019, they took cognisance of some behavioural changes in the younger daughter that instigated him to investigate the changes. The mother said that after May 2019 vacations, the children were not ready to return. Then they started spotting changes in the behaviours of both the daughters. They suffered from disturbed sleep, random fear, sudden shivering and did not allow people to touch them. The children feared that they might get a scolding from the parent so didn’t reveal anything to them. In July 2019, the elder daughter lost consciousness at school and later a government medic confirmed that the children were raped several times by multiple men.

Case against 16 men

The doctors passed the information to the Childline India Foundation and the investigation revealed that both of the children have been raped repeatedly by the mother’s relatives. The mother filed a complaint in the Villupuram district and a case against 16 people was filed under the provisions of the POCSO Act. The accused were remanded in judicial custody.