Seven-year-old girl was allegedly beaten to death by her father and stepmother. (Photo: Canva)
A seven-year-old girl was allegedly beaten to death by her father and stepmother in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad. The incident happened at the family’s residence in the Dasna area under the jurisdiction of the Wave City police station.
According to police, the accused couple identified as Mohammad Akram and his wife Nisha subjected the child, Shifa, to severe physical abuse over two consecutive days.
The assault reportedly took place on Saturday and Sunday, during which the girl was also left overnight on the terrace in the cold as punishment.
The postmortem report revealed 13 injury marks on the child’s body, including multiple fractured ribs and internal bleeding in the head and chest, confirming extreme physical violence.
“The autopsy shows that the girl suffered severe injuries due to brutal beating. She had fractured ribs and internal bleeding, which ultimately led to her death,” said Priyashri Pal, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Wave City Circle.
Police said that on Sunday night, after the girl lost consciousness following another round of beating, the accused rushed her to multiple hospitals. She was declared dead around 3 am on Monday.
“They accepted that they both beat her severely. The injuries on the child’s body corroborate their statement,” ACP Pal said earlier, before the autopsy report was officially received.
The accused were detained on Monday and formally booked for murder after a complaint was filed on Tuesday.
Initially, police had not registered an FIR as they were awaiting a formal complaint from the child’s maternal family.
On Tuesday, Mohammad Zaheer, the girl’s grandfather and father of her biological mother, filed a complaint at the Wave City police station, following which an FIR was registered under murder charges.
The girl’s maternal uncle, Mohammad Muzammil, told HT that Akram and Nisha had a history of abusing all three children from Akram’s first marriage.
“They regularly beat the children. On Saturday, they assaulted Shifa and sent her to the terrace at night. On Sunday, they beat her again so badly that she collapsed,” Muzammil said.
Police also revealed that Akram’s first wife, Tarana alias Gulzar, died of burn injuries in 2022. Akram married Nisha a year later. Relatives had earlier raised concerns over the safety of the children living with the accused couple.
Wave City SHO Sarvesh Kumar said investigators are examining hospital documents to reconstruct the final hours of the child.
“We will check records of the hospitals where the girl was taken. The autopsy confirms severe injuries caused by brutal assault,” he said.
The Ghaziabad case comes amid a disturbing rise in crimes against children across India.
According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data:
1,77,335 cases of crimes against children were reported in 2023, the highest ever recorded. This marks a nearly tenfold increase from 18,700 cases in 2005. And also Crimes against children rose by 9.16% compared to 2022. On average, one crime against a child was reported every three minutes in 2023.
An analysis by child rights NGO CRY (Child Rights and You) found that: Two out of five crimes against children, mostly girls, were sexual offences. 70,053 cases of sexual offences against children were reported in 2023. This translates to 486 crimes against children daily, including 192 sexual offences every day.
Experts warn that unless systemic intervention, child protection mechanisms, and early reporting improve, the numbers could cross 2.5 lakh cases annually in the near future.
Sofia Babu Chacko is a journalist with over five years of experience covering Indian politics, crime, human rights, gender issues, and stories about marginalized communities. She believes that every voice matters, and journalism has a vital role to play in amplifying those voices. Sofia is committed to creating impact and shedding light on stories that truly matter. Beyond her work in the newsroom, she is also a music enthusiast who enjoys singing.
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