UP woman beats stepdaughter to death in Bulandshahr, held

MEERUT: A three-year-old girl was allegedly beaten to death by her stepmother at Surjawali village in Pahasu area of Bulandshahr district on Wednesday evening. Police said the accused woman has been arrested. Accused Poonam Devi (32) is a native of Aligarh. The victim, Kavya, lived with her father Vinod Kumar, a cabbie in Noida, and five-year-old brother after her biological mother left the family. Family members alleged that Poonam frequently assaulted the children and would not give them food. On Wednesday evening, when the father was not at home, the woman allegedly started beating both the children. While the boy managed to run out of the house, Kavya could not. Relatives said the woman continued to assault the girl brutally with a wooden stick and an iron rod. A neighbour, Sunil Kumar, said his daughter alerted him and when he reached the spot, the child was found lying unconscious while the woman was standing nearby. The child was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared her dead.