12-year-old girl kills four-year-old boy in Madhya Pradesh over chocolate dispute, say police

A 12-year-old girl allegedly killed a four-year-old boy by pushing him into a water tank after becoming angry with the child’s mother for scolding her over a chocolate in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur district, police said on Friday (October 30, 2026).

The incident took place on October 26 in Shamgarh town, when the girl allegedly took the boy to the roof of her house, pushed him into a water tank and covered it with a stone slab.

An FIR has been registered in the case, and the girl was sent to a government juvenile home after being produced before a court.

Mandsaur Superintendent of Police Vinod Meena told The Hindu that the boy’s body remained in the tank for about three hours before the girl’s father discovered it.

“The boy’s parents had complained of the boy being missing so as per the usual procedure, we started a search and alerted the neighbours to look for the boy on their roofs and in water bodies. The girl’s father found him in the tank on his roof. He was completely unaware of what his daughter had done,” Mr. Meena said.

The boy’s family lived as tenants in the adjacent house owned by the girl’s uncle.

Mr. Meena said the police spoke to children in the neighbourhood during the search, following which the girl confessed to the crime.

“As per her statement, the girl had taken a chocolate the boy was eating after which his mother had scolded her badly. She had been upset over something the woman may have said and carried the anger for 7-8 days before carrying out the act,” the officer said.

The FIR was registered under the Juvenile Justice Act on October 28, after the post-mortem findings corroborated the girl’s statement, Mr. Meena said, adding that legal action was being taken as per the law.

The post-mortem report stated that the cause of death was ante-mortem drowning.