The body of a seven-year-old girl, who had been missing since Tuesday, was found inside a rooftop water tank in Hyderabad on Wednesday afternoon. The child's hands were tied behind her back, raising suspicions of foul play and prompting a full-scale police investigation.
The victim, identified as Humeyni Sumaiya, was visiting her grandmother at the family home along with her parents, Mohammad Azeem and Shabana Begum.
Sumaiya was reported missing on Tuesday evening, and her family immediately lodged a complaint at the police station. An overnight search involving multiple police teams, investigators, and concerned neighbours failed to locate the girl.
The grim discovery was made on Wednesday afternoon when Sumaiya's mother returned to the grandmother's house for one final check. To her horror, she found the child's lifeless body floating inside the rooftop water tank.
The police were immediately alerted. Upon examining the scene, investigators confirmed that the girl's hands were bound behind her back, a detail that strongly suggests she was unable to enter the tank on her own and points directly to foul play.
"We are investigating all angles including that of any family dispute," Police Inspector Anjaneyulu told NDTV. "It is a definite case of murder, and we have altered the sections from missing to murder."
The body was removed from the tank and sent for a post-mortem examination, while forensic teams arrived at the scene to gather clues. The police have officially registered the matter as a suspicious death and are treating the investigation as a potential homicide.
