Saran: A man allegedly assaulted his 13-year-old niece fatally after she entered his premises late on Tuesday night to fetch drinking water from his pump, leading to the girl's death in Saran district, around 70km north of Patna.

The incident took place at Mohammadpur village under the jurisdiction of Garkha police station in Saran district.

The girl, Moni Kumari, was mercilessly beaten up by her father's eldest brother Manikant Singh following a dispute over fetching potable water from her uncle's hand pump.

Moni's aunt Beauty Devi, too, assaulted Moni at the hand pump on Manikant's residential premises, even as she pleaded for help.

The uncle and aunt were agitated over Moni's audacity to enter the building premises to fetch water from the hand pump at night.

The girl's 16-year-old elder sister Soni Kumari said Moni was first admitted to the local primary health centre at Garkha and from there referred to a private hospital.

However, despite the measures, she succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday.

Manikant and his family members then forcibly took possession of the girl's body and tried to dispose of it secretly before the police arrived at the scene.

According to Soni, her younger sister had gone to their uncle's house to fetch water but the hand pump there had already dried up because of a fall in the ground water level in the region.

Soni's father is himself lodged in Chhapra district jail in connection with the murder of his younger brother. "There is no male member left in the family," the younger sister, Soni, told the police.

Garkha police station house officer (SHO) Gaurishankar Baitha said the police reached Paigambarpur village, around 6km from the police station, after getting information that the girl's relatives were trying to dispose of her body.

"The body was brought to the police station and sent for post mortem," he told The Telegraph.

The SHO said Manikant Singh and Beauty Devi had been booked under Section 302 (murder) and other relevant sections of IPC.

An FIR has been lodged on the basis of a statement issued by the dead girl's sister Soni.

"A dispute over drinking water is said to be the reason behind the incident," he said.

Moni's grandfather Ram Snehi Singh was in extreme shock after news of the incident reached him. This was more than a double for him.

"About a year ago, one of my three sons was arrested on the charge of killing his younger brother. Now, my other son is facing murder charge and will be arrested," he said.