Madhya Pradesh: Woman kills 2-year-old niece, hides her body under sofa

Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) [India]: A woman allegedly strangled her two-year-old niece to death for not allowing her to sleep in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur, police said on Wednesday.

The incident occurred in the Hanumantal police station limits and the accused has been arrested, officials said.

Additional Superintendent of Police Priyanka Shukla Jabalpur said the victim, daughter of one Sakil Mansoori, went missing on Monday afternoon.

The family members of the girl filed a missing person report, he said, adding that police recorded statements of relatives of the girl.

Upon finding discrepancies in their statements, police searched the house and found the girl's body under a sofa in the drawing room, SP Shukla added.

After a detailed investigation, police interrogated, Afsana, the girl's aunt. "She confessed to her crime and told the police that the girl had come to her room on Monday afternoon," SP Shukla said.

"I asked her to go out of my room and slapped her. She started to cry loudly. I covered her mouth and nose with my hand to silence her. Fearing her dead, I hide her body under the sofa," the accused told police.

The accused has been taken into custody, SP Shukla said, adding that they were waiting for a post-mortem report following which a case of murder will be registered against her.