The Bhopal Police have arrested three people for allegedly raping a 10-year-old girl multiple times over the past year, the Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday. One of the accused is the girl’s paternal uncle.

The child came to live with her uncle and aunt after her parents died, Patrika reported. Her three sisters were sent to live with other relatives. “The matter came to light when the victim, a Class 5 student at a government school, told her 12-year-old friend that the accused used to do “bad things” to her,” said Archana Sahay, the director of Childline India Foundation in the city. “She also confessed to being in great pain due to the repeated sexual assaults she was being subjected to.”

The friend informed her mother, who spoke to the complainant. “Later, she shared a recording of the conversation with us,” said Sahay.

Additional Superintendent of Police Rashmi Mishra said the complainant’s uncle had started raping the girl soon after she came to live with him. “One day, an engineering student and a minor boy found the uncle sexually assaulting the girl in a common area of the building,” Mishra added. “Following this, they began blackmailing and raping her too.”

The accused reportedly threatened to throw the girl off the roof and murder her if she told anyone about the assaults. The girl even told her aunt about what was happening, Patrika reported. But her aunt reportedly refused to believe her.

The girl has undergone a medical examination and has been shifted to a shelter, the police said. They added that the rapes had “badly affected” the child.