A 9-year-old girl was found dead in the bathroom of her Queens home yesterday, and police suspect she was beaten to death. Authorities want to question her stepmother regarding the circumstances of her death.
Ashdeep Kaur, 9, was found in an empty bathtub in her home at 95-50 112th Street in Richmond Hill by a neighbor at around 6 p.m. yesterday, according to police. She was declared dead at the scene, and investigators say her body was bruised and naked.
Ashdeep had moved to Queens from India only three months ago, and lived with her father, Sukhginder Singh, and stepmother, Arjun Samdhi Pardas, the latter of whom was supposed to be watching the girl at the time of her death. But Pardas was not at home when Ashdeep's body was found, and police, who say Ashdeep's death was suspicious, are still trying to locate her.
Family members say the girl might have been abused, and Ashdeep's uncle told the Daily News that his niece, "didn’t want to come here because her stepmother beat her." He added, "I see some scratching on her hand."
The medical examiner's office has not yet determined the little girl's cause of death.
