Karimnagar: In a shocking incident, a five-year-old girl was murdered by her aunt in Korutla town of Jagtial district on Sunday as an alleged act of revenge against the girl’s mother.

The girl was seen playing outside her house on Saturday evening when she suddenly disappeared. Her parents became worried when the girl did not return home even after nightfall and began searching for her in the surroundings with the help of their neighbours.

On Sunday morning, while checking the houses in their colony, the parents found the body of their daughter, who was stabbed to death in the bathroom of their relative’s house near their residence.

The police inspected the spot and shifted the body to the hospital for post-mortem and started an investigation.

Meanwhile, police suspect that Mamatha, the girl’s aunt, might have committed the crime as she had a grudge against the girl’s mother, who is also the wife of Mamatha’s husband’s brother. Mamatha and the girl’s parents had been living together as Mamatha’s husband had gone abroad in search of work.

It is believed that when there was no one in the house, Mamatha took the girl to her house, which was a little distance away, saying that they would play together and then stabbed her to death with a knife. After the murder, she pretended that nothing had happened and joined in the search of the girl. She even cried along with the girl’s family members after the body was found.

It is learnt that the police took Mamatha into their custody and were investigating the case.