Story By: Maja Mishevksa, Sub Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

CEN

This is the haunting moment a four-year-old girl is last seen alive when she is carried down the street by an unidentified man only to end up a short while later dead in a sack.

The 4-year-old victim together with her sister aged 2 had been left in the care of a 9-year-old cousin by their mother who wanted to go to a party.

The body of the girl, named in reports as Camila, 4, was found in the area known as La Mina, in Payet, in the district of Independencia in the Peruvian capital Lima on Sunday.

Police officers had been searching for her after her mother, identified as Mirella Alexandra Huaman Santiago, 22, reported she had been taken by a man.

According to the police, the mother had left Camila and her two-year-old daughter at a relative’s house where they were being cared for by their nine-year-old female cousin.

Reports state the mother then went to a “yunza”, a traditional party to celebrate the beginning of the carnival.

Manuel Galvez, Head of the Police of Independencia, told local media that the three girls had left the house looking for Huaman Santiago as she had not returned from the party.

The girls came across a man who reportedly told them he could help them find the mother.

In the CCTV footage, the unidentified man can be seen with the four-year-old Camila in his arms as the other two girls walk with him. He can then be seen turning around and walking towards the camera, with the other two girls behind.

At around 6am on Sunday the mother reported the girl’s disappearance to the police and a search operation was launched.

Residents who had spotted a suspicious-looking man helped in the search effort and the girl’s body was found inside a raffia sack.

The mother was taken to the police station to give a statement and she reportedly identified her daughter’s body.

Police chief Galvez said the girl had suffered injuries to her neck and her death had been caused by a traumatic brain injury caused by a sharp weapon.

Investigators are working to discover if the girl had been sexually abused but the results of the analysis have not been released.

Reports state the father of the two girls, Edwin Valle who lives in the USA, wants to take over custody of the two-year-old, who is currently being cared for by the authorities.

Local media report residents were enraged with the mother for leaving her two daughters in the care of their cousin as she was at the party.

The investigation is ongoing and no official suspects have been named. No arrests have been made.

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