Kochi: The case relating to the murder of a three-year-old girl in Kochi allegedly by her mother has turned murkier with the police finding that the child was sexually abused by a close relative. 

The younger brother of the child’s father has been detained by the Puthencruz police. According to the police, he is set to be charged under Section 3 and 6 of the POCSO Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012), which deals with penetrative sexual assault and aggravated penetrative sexual assault as well as Section 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) dealing with rape. The sexual abuse the child faced came to light in the postmortem examination and police interrogated the family members of the victim after her funeral on Tuesday evening. 

Police sources said that the man confessed to the crime during the questioning. The child lived near the accused’s house and he abused her on several occasions when she went to sleep over in the close relative’s house. The postmortem report has reportedly identified injuries on the girl’s private parts indicating recent incidents of abuse.

The police source said that it was not yet clear if the girl’s mother knew about the ordeal her daughter had to endure. She did not mention anything about it when she was questioned after the child was reported missing, the source added.

The murder case is being investigated by the Chengamanad police as the body of the girl was found from Chalakudy river at Moozhikulam near the mother’s house. The woman has confessed to throwing her daughter into the river on Monday evening though the police are yet to confirm the motive behind the crime. The woman committed the crime while she was taking the child to her house at Kurumassery near Moozhikulam from her husband’s house near Chottanikkara.

Relatives of the child’s parents said that there were differences between the couple.

The woman has been remanded and the Chengamanad police will get her in their custody for further investigation. The Puthencruz police are likely to join the questioning in the wake of the POCSO case.