A 32-year-old man was arrested today on charges of raping his 5-year old step daughter over a period of time and murdering her a couple of days ago.

According to police, Mahendran was sexually harassing his step daughter, when her mother was not around. The girl’s mother, who was in Tiruchirapalli yesterday, received a call from Mahendran, who told her that the girl suffered breathlessness and admitted to the Government Hospital, where she breathed last.

The woman, who returned immediately, grew suspicious after noticing some injury marks on the daughter’s body and lodged a complaint with police, who registered a case of death under mysterious circumstances.

Postmortem revealed that the girl was sexually assaulted many times. Mahendran was taken into custody last evening, police said.

During interrogation, Mahendran confessed to the crime. He was produced before the Mahila Court that remanded him to judicial custody.