Father hangs 2 girls upside down for 14 hours in Maharashtra; 9-year-old dies

KOLHAPUR: A nine-year-old girl died, and her 11-year-old sister remains in a serious condition after their father allegedly hung them upside down from a metal bar on the roof of their tin-shed house for 14 hours, starting Wednesday evening, in Banpuri village of Sangli's Atpadi tehsil.

The police arrested the 35-year-old man on Thursday under BNS sections 103 and 109 for murder and attempt to murder. Late on Thursday night, Vinay Bahir, the assistant inspector of the Atpadi police station, said the process to file a complaint was on and the FIR would be registered soon after.

Vipul Patil, the sub-divisional police officer of Vita division, said: "The uncle of the accused man, who lives nearby, had complained that the two girls had stolen money from his house. This led to a fight between two families. Thereafter, the accused man, to teach a lesson to his young daughters, hung them upside down from the metal bar of the roof. The girls were tied up from 5pm on Wednesday to 7am on Thursday. During this time, the man kept watch on the girls, and with a koyta (a sharp-edged tool) in hand, threatened his wife and father that he would kill them too if they intervened to release the girls."

Vipul Patil said that when both the girls fell unconscious, the family members, with the help of neighbours, took them to the local hospital. He said the nine-year-old died on the way to Pandharpur for further treatment. The 11-year-old was unconscious, and the doctors advised surgery. After that, she was shifted to Sangli.

The police said the girls had allegedly stolen money to spend at a village fair.

"The postmortem has been carried out, but we are waiting for the clinical analysis and histopathology reports. Only after that the exact cause of death can be ascertained," said Vipul Patl.

The police said the accused is a farmer and also trades livestock. He had five children — four daughters and a son. The two girls subjected to torture were the his third and fourth children.