BENGALURU: A seven-year-old girl has been allegedly smothered to death by her stepfather at their residence here, police said on Saturday.

The incident occurred on Friday evening when the child's mother was away at work, they said.

According to police, on returning home, the woman found her daughter, Siri, dead and suspected her husband, Darshan, who has been absconding since the incident, to be behind the killing.

Based on her complaint, a case of murder has been registered against Darshan at Kumbalagudu police station, a senior police officer said, adding that preliminary investigation suggested that he allegedly smothered the girl to death.

However, a post-mortem report is awaited to ascertain the exact cause of her death, he said. The couple, who got married about four months ago, frequently quarrelled and had domestic issues, which investigators suspects could have triggered the incident, the officer said.

However, the exact motive will be known after the accused is arrested, and efforts are on to trace him, police said.