The four brothers and sisters were reportedly murdered on October 15 in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon. (File)
Mumbai:
There is massive anger in north Maharashtra’s Jalgaon over the murder and alleged rape of four minor siblings – two girls aged 13 and 6 years, and two boys aged 1 and 8 years old. The children from the tribal community were allegedly hacked to death with an axe by unidentified accused on October 15, the police said.
Four days since the incident, the police are yet to make any arrests. However, they have added rape charges to the murder case, based on circumstantial, but scientific evidence, sources said.
“We are verifying the evidence. Our investigation is progressing well. We should be able to make arrests soon,” Inspector General of Police Pratap Dighavkar told reporters when asked why there were no arrests so far.
Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who visited Jalgaon on Saturday, had told reporters that the “probe is moving in a positive direction and arrests will be made soon.”
The children were reportedly murdered on the night of October 15, and were found lying in a pool of blood inside a house built on a farm in a village in Raver taluka, some 66 km from the district headquarters of Jalgaon.
The Raver Police rushed to the spot after the house owner reached the next morning and found the bodies lying in a pool of blood.
According to the police, the incident took place when the children’s parents and eldest son had gone to attend rituals after the death of a relative after leaving the four siblings in the care of an acquaintance.
“All four were very young and that’s why he had asked my friends to look after them while we were away. But, they only did this heinous act,” the victims’ brother said.