Rapist-murderer strikes again, kills 7-year-old after escaping cops

A rapist-murderer, Salamatali Alam Ansari, was arrested for killing a 7-year-old girl in Bhiwandi after escaping police custody during a court hearing.

THANE: A rapist-murder who had escaped police custody on August 4 during a court hearing, was traced and arrested on Wednesday after he allegedly raped and murdered seven-year-old girl in Mangatpada, in Bhiwandi. He had initially been arrested in 2023 for a similar crime against a six-year-old girl.

Rapist-murderer strikes again, kills 7-year-old after escaping cops

According to the Bhiwandi Nizampura police, the accused, Salamatali Alam Ansari, 30, lured his young victim with food, and took her to his rented room where he raped her, murdered her, and hid her body in a gunny bag before fleeing. A victim, the second child of four, was from a family that had moved to Bhiwandi from Bihar over a year ago. Her parents worked as labourers in the nearby factories.

The police said that when the girl did not return home, her parents began a frantic search. A neighbour noticed that the accused’s door was locked and when they peeped through the window, they found the bucket that the girl had been carrying. The residents of the area then broke open the door and discovered the girl’s body. She was taken to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, said the police.

This is the second gruesome rape and murder in Ansari’s criminal history. In September 2023, he was arrested for the rape and murder of another young girl in Bhiwandi’s Kamatghar. At the time, the charges against him included sections 302 (murder), 363 (kidnapping), and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code, along with sections of the POCSO Act. Ansari was imprisoned in Thane Central Jail.

According to the police, after Ansari fled their custody, he went to his hometown, Madhepura in Bihar, but was shooed away by the villagers. He then returned to Bhiwandi around a week ago and rented a room in the victim’s neighbourhood.

“We have registered a fresh case against the accused,” said Samadhan Patil, the investigating officer. The accused has been remanded to police custody till October 8, the police added. After he fled the court, a separate case was also registered at the Shantinagar police station.