Murder of toddler over $144 loan causes outrage

NEW DELHI: Indian police have sent reinforcements to a northern city to head off tensions after the murder of a two-year-old girl over an unpaid $144 loan. Police said two suspects have been detained after the girl’s body was discovered on a rubbish dump in Aligarh, in Uttar Pradesh state after she was abducted on May 31. Officers said a medical report found the toddler was strangled with a cloth. The body was hidden at the home of one of the accused but later thrown onto the garbage dump because it started decomposing in the summer heat, police said. “The girl’s grandfather owed the accused money and they had an argument” over the delay in repaying the 10,000 rupees ($144), Aakash Kulhari, Aligarh police chief, told AFP.