A six-year-old nephew of the 24-year-old Dalit woman, who was allegedly burnt alive for pursuing her gangrape case in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao in December last year, remained untraceable four days after his disappearance on Friday. The nephew was last seen playing near a pond in his village.

“Fourteen police teams of Unnao, Lucknow and Rae Bareli districts have been deployed… [to trace the boy],” said Unnao police superintendent Anand Kulkarni.

The missing child is the son of the woman’s brother.

Police have questioned several people and detained five whom the boy’s family named in their complaint. The five suspects are relatives of the men accused of gang-raping and murdering the woman. They were present in the village when the boy disappeared, investigators said citing their phone call details.

Kulkarni on Saturday suspended three policemen posted at the woman’s house for laxity. He said the security for the family has been further tightened with the deployment of more personnel.

Inspector General (Lucknow range) Lakshmi Singh visited the village on Sunday and met the boy’s family and assured them of all possible help.

The boy disappeared amid protests across the country over a 19-year-old Dalit woman’s alleged gang rape and murder in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras and the manner in which she was cremated in the dead of the night last week.