Man Kills 4-Year-Old Girl, Injures Her Cousin After Failed Rape Attempt

A 35-year-old man killed a 4-year-old girl and injured her 7-year-old cousin in a field following a failed attempt to rape them.

The incident took place Monday in the state of Uttar Pradesh. On the day of the attack, the accused was passing by a village and spotted the girls near a primary school. A police officer said the accused then lured the girls to a field with a packet of biscuits and attempted to rape them.

When the girls starting crying, the man attacked them with an iron rod, the New Indian Express reported.

The police said that the accused often visited the village where the girls lived in order to kill wild animals and sell the carcasses.

The body of one of the girls was found in the field while her cousin was found unconscious a few miles away. The 7-year-old girl was said to be in a stable condition.

Following an investigation, the police arrested the accused, and he was charged with Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), Sections 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the New Indian Express reported.

Authorities are currently investigating the incident.

Earlier this month, a man threw a 3-month-old baby into the fire after the mother rejected his sexual advances. The child suffered severe burn injuries to the legs. The police told the local media the woman was sitting near a bonfire when the man tried to sexually harass her. The woman protested his advances, which infuriated the man who then snatched the baby from her and threw her into the bonfire. The incident took place in the Indian state of Bihar.

The accused was charged with attempt to murder, assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, voluntarily causing hurt and wrongful restraint, the police said at the time.

In another incident, a 9-year-old girl was raped and killed in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata. The incident sparked protests in the city over the safety of women. The police said the body of the minor was found lying in a pool of blood near the staircase of a building.