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CHENNAI: An eight-year-old girl, who was raped by some of her relatives for almost two years at Tindivanam in Villupuram district, died in Chennai on Thursday, police said, adding that the girl had been suffering from stomach ache and fever for the past one week.

A case under CrPC Section 174 (death under suspicious circumstances) was registered.

Investigators said an autopsy was conducted, adding that they were awaiting tresul of further tests. The Class III student of a government school in the city, who stayed with her mother Lakshmi, elder sister, step-father and step-brother, went to the bathroom on Thursday night and remained there.

Lakshmi knocked on the door, and when there was no response, broke open the door with the help of some of their neighbours.

They found the girl lying unconscious and rushed her to the Government Royapettah Hospital (GRH) where doctors declared her brought dead.

In 2017, Lakshmi separated from her husband and moved to Chennai after leaving her two daughters in a relative’s house.

The next year, on one of her visits, Lakshmi, who had re-married by then, learned from her daughters that they were sexually assaulted by the relative and several others who warned them against revealing the matter to her (Lakshmi).

The woman then moved her daughters to Puducherry where she got them admitted to a school.

The issue came to light after one of the girls fainted at school and the management officials took her to a hospital where doctors conducted an examination and said she had been raped.

They informed a child helpline in Puducherry and inquiries revealed that both the girls were raped by their relatives over more than two years.

Based on the direction of the child helpline, Lakshmi lodged a complaint with the Brahmadesam police in Tindivanam and 16 people were booked under Pocso Act and sent to jail.

Lakshmi moved her daughters to Chennai where she worked in a private company.

While the case is still under trial in a Tindivanam court, all the accused came out on bail in November-December last year, police said.

(The victim 's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)

