U.P. man allegedly kills 5-year-old daughter for playing at neighbour’s house

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A man who reported his five-year-old daughter missing last month has been arrested for allegedly murdering her in the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh, police said on Thursday (March 6, 2025).

Mohit Mishra, 40, had lodged a missing person complaint regarding his daughter Tani at the Rampur Mathura police station here on February 25, the police said in a statement.

The next day, on February 26, a severed leg and other body parts of a child were discovered in a mustard field, prompting the police to launch an investigation.

The police found that the body was of Tani, and his father had strangled the child and dumped her body in a field outside the village. Wild animals later mauled her body, the police said.

The post-mortem had confirmed that the child had been strangled to death, according to the police.

Following this, Rampur Mathura police and the Special Operations Group (SOG) intensified their investigation and detained Mishra. During interrogation, he confessed to the crime, the police claimed.

According to the press note issued by the police, “Mishra stated that he was upset over a dispute with his neighbour Ramu, with whom he had stopped speaking. He had warned his children not to visit Ramu’s house, but his daughter Tani defied his instructions and went there to play.” “On the evening of February 25, as Mishra was leaving his house on a motorcycle he saw Tani heading toward the neighbour’s home. Enraged, he took her on his motorcycle to a secluded area outside the village and strangled her. Wild animals later mutilated her body,” the police said.

“Fearing arrest, Mishra abandoned his mobile phone at home and went into hiding after the post-mortem. He later returned home but avoided questions about Tani’s whereabouts. His behaviour raised suspicion, and when police intensified their probe, he finally confessed to the murder,” it added.

The police said they have lodged a case against Mishra under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and he has been sent to jail.