Bareilly: A local court here has sentenced a man, his wife and sister to life imprisonment for the murder of a 10-year-old girl, officials said on Saturday.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Judge Arvind Kumar Yadav found all three accused guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment on Friday, Government Counsel Sachin Kumar Jaiswal said.

The victim’s cousin, Suraj, played a crucial role in bringing the perpetrators to justice. The victim was identified as Kajal, daughter of the accused — Ravi Babu and Ritu.

Jaiswal added that the motive behind the murder was the girl’s opposition to an alleged illicit affair within the family.

“The girl had threatened to expose the affair, leading the accused to kill her,” he added.

The incident was reported by her cousin Suraj at Izzat Nagar police station on August 20, 2020.

Suraj, who was 17 at the time, had been living with his maternal uncle’s family since childhood. He worked as a carpenter.

On the day of the incident, Suraj’s maternal uncle, Ravi Babu, called his employer, claiming their dog had died and needed to be disposed of.

Upon returning to his maternal uncle’s house, Suraj witnessed Ravi Babu, his mother Radha Devi, and his aunt Ritu digging a pit and burying his cousin, Kajal’s body.

Suraj reported the incident to the Izzat Nagar police station. The police subsequently recovered Kajal’s body from the pit.

“The post-mortem report revealed that Kajal’s wrist bone was broken in two places and that there were eight wound marks on her body,” said Jaiswal.

Police filed a chargesheet in the case against the accused.