A five-year-old girl died after being raped and hit on the head with a stone by her cousin brother, who is also a minor.

The incident happened on July 24 at Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district "when the girl accompanied the accused to a forest near their village under Bagicha police station area for grazing of livestsock" according to a police official. When the girl did not return home, her family and relatives went out in search of her and later registered a complaint with the police when she was nowhere to be found. Upon inquiry, the minor boy confessed to his crimes and mentioned that he had raped and then bludgeoned the five-year-old to death. He apparently threw her body in a nearby waterfall and later returned home. "The accused boy told police that he raped the girl and then killed her by smashing her head with a stone. We've arrested her cousin brother who during interrogation revealed that he took the girl to the forest area, raped her and later murdered her. The probe is on," the official further added.

The accused has reportedly been booked under sections 376 (Punishment for rape) and 302 (Punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.