A man raped, killed and skinned a girl after her mother rejected his advances, police have said.
The 27-year-old man visited the four-year-old’s mother at her home in Khopoli town in Maharashtra, India.
When the woman snubbed and reprimanded him in public, the man decided to take revenge, Raigad superintendent of police Anil Paraskar said.
After taking the girl and gagging her at his home, the suspect is thought to have sexually assaulted and then killed her.
The man then severed the girl’s head with a kitchen knife and dumped her torso about 300m behind the house.
He is accused of then leaving her head nearby having peeled off the skin so authorities could not identify her.
The case follows a string of high profile sex attacks in India, with huge crowds protesting the alleged rape of a teenager by a ruling party politician in the state of Uttar Pradesh in April.
A police source told the Times of India: “On Tuesday, around 8.30am, the girl had visited the man’s house.
“Thereafter, he took her back to her mother, but the mother got annoyed and scolded him publicly.
“Hence, he decided to seek revege. When the woman was busy inside her house, he gagged the girl, took her to his house, and bundled her away under the kitchen slab.
“He then went to sleep in the afternoon.”
When she realised the girl was missing her mother launched a search along with a female friend.
A missing complaint was filed with the police, prompting a search which quickly found her remains.
The girl’s body had burn marks on it. A bloodstained knife was found in the man’s home.
According to local reports the man admitted the crime during interrogation.
If the man is found guilty of aggravated murder he will likely face life in prison.