A man allegedly abducted and raped a one-year-old girl before killing her in Loni Kalbhor on Thursday, a village 11 kilometres east of Pune. The accused, identified as Malhari Bansode, was arrested on Friday, PTI reported.

Bansode allegedly kidnapped the child, the daughter of migrant labourers from Tamil Nadu, while she was sleeping next to her parents on the roadside in Loni Kalbhor on Thursday. Around midnight, the child’s mother noticed that she was missing, and subsequently filed a complaint with the police.

Senior Police Inspector Kranti Kumar Patil said the police recovered the child’s body early on Friday, the Hindustan Times reported. A medical examination revealed that she had been raped. “This is a transition from an abduction investigation to a murder investigation. With the help of CCTV footage, we identified suspects and within three hours arrested him,” Patil said.

The police said the accused is an alcoholic and that he had confessed to abducting, raping and murdering the child.