India, May 13 -- The investigation into the rape and murder of a three-and-a-half-year-old girl in Nasrapur gathered crucial eyewitness testimony from three minor boys who allegedly saw the accused taking the child into a cowshed shortly before the crime; the police informed a court on Monday.

The accused, Bhimrao Prabhakar Kamble, 65, a resident of Bhor in Pune district, was arrested in connection with the brutal sexual assault and murder that took place on May 1 that has triggered public outrage across Maharashtra.

According to the investigators, the three boys, aged around 10 and 11 years, were playing near the cowshed at the time of the incident when they saw the accused taking the victim inside the cowshed. The police said that the...