Police Arrest Aunt for 5-Year-Old Girl’s Murder
CCTV reveals woman killed niece out of jealousy after losing money in online betting.
Karimnagar: Police have solved the murder of a five-year-old girl whose body was found with her throat slit on Sunday morning, arresting the child’s paternal aunt, Mamatha (28), and remanding her to judicial custody. The case came to light when the girl’s father filed a missing persons report at the Korutla police station. While searching nearby, the parents found their daughter’s body in a bathroom adjacent to their house in Adarshnagar. Investigators initially suspected the house owner, who is involved in several local disputes, but CCTV footage later pointed to Mamatha.
Mamatha and Naveena (the victim’s mother) are cousins who married brothers Akula Ramu and Lakshman. Ramu and Naveena have a son and a deceased daughter; Lakshman and Mamatha have two daughters. Lakshman is currently employed in a Gulf country.
According to police, Mamatha lost Rs 18 lakh in online betting four months ago, leading to a cybercrime case registered in Korutla. Resentful that Naveena received more attention within the family, Mamatha allegedly planned the murder.
On Saturday evening, she took all four children to watch tiger-dance performances for Muharram, carrying a vegetable knife and a plant cutter in her bag. Around 7.30 pm, after sending the other children home, she led her niece into a vacant house’s bathroom and killed her.
Mamatha then returned home, washed her blood-stained clothes, and joined relatives in searching for the missing child, even accompanying Naveena to the hospital while feigning distress. During interrogation, inconsistencies in her account exposed her involvement.
Police formally arrested Mamatha on Monday and produced her before a magistrate, who remanded her to judicial custody. The investigation is continuing.
