A day after the body of a 5-year-old girl was found brutalised and dumped near heaps of waste in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, the state police have arrested a 29-year-old man for allegedly raping and strangling the child to death, with a local court sending him to 14 days in judicial custody on Sunday. Police officers said that Asafak Alam, who is originally from Bihar and was a migrant labourer like the parents of the child he allegedly assaulted and killed, had likely committed the crime on his own. On Sunday, there was an outpouring of grief at Keezhmadu where hundreds, including politicians, activists and locals gathered at a school where the victims body was kept on Sunday before the last rites, demanding stringent punishment.
Senior police officers said that Alam was taken into custody late on Friday night, hours after the parents of the five year old had reported her missing in the afternoon. An FIR was lodged at 7 pm and Alam was tracked down to Thottakattukara and taken into custody. At 11 am on Saturday morning, the victims body was found in a waste dump near Aluva market, officers said.
A Srinivas, deputy inspector general of police(Central range) said that Alam was arrested after CCTV visuals from the area and eyewitness statements showed that he was in the area in Aluva market, and was spotted crossing the national highway holding the girl’s hand. “Alam has been charged with several counts of aggravated sexual assault under the Pocso Act, kidnapping, destruction of evidence, and murder. We believe the victim was physically and sexually assaulted before her murder. The accused has been remanded to 14-day judicial custody, but we are planning to conduct a test identification parade and seek his custody for questioning,” said Srinivas.
Police said the investigation has not yet shown the involvement of other people in the crime. “But still, we are keeping all options open. Once we get the accused in custody, we will question him thoroughly. There are witnesses who have seen him with the child even an hour before her murder. Based on the evidence we have collected, we have booked him under those charges. There’s more evidence to be collected which we will do in subsequent days,” Srinivas added.
{{/usCountry}}Police said the investigation has not yet shown the involvement of other people in the crime. “But still, we are keeping all options open. Once we get the accused in custody, we will question him thoroughly. There are witnesses who have seen him with the child even an hour before her murder. Based on the evidence we have collected, we have booked him under those charges. There’s more evidence to be collected which we will do in subsequent days,” Srinivas added.
{{/usCountry}}The Kerala police have been in touch with their counterparts in Bihar to find out if Alam has a criminal background, officers said.
Additional Public Prosecutor Unnikrishnan said the accused, as per the remand report, has been charged under sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 367 (kidnapping or abduction to cause grievous hurt), 376A (causing death), 376AB (rape on woman under 12 years), 377 (unnatural offences), 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. “There are strong charges against him and the remand report substantiates them. The investigation is going on,” he said.
Meanwhile, the body of the victim was laid to rest amid a large public outpouring of grief at the Keezhmadu cemetery on Sunday afternoon. A large number of people from surrounding panchayats, along with MLAs, MPs and political leaders, from various parties attended the funeral.
Local Congress MLA Anwar Sadath, who attended the last rites, told reporters, “I also have two daughters and we are all concerned about the safety of our children. When I saw her face, I was reminded of my younger daughter. We are all in deep pain.” He demanded that the police build a strong case against the accused without any loopholes and ask for the strictest punishment against him.
Raji Santosh, president of Choornikkara panchayat, said the victim was the second of the couple’s four children and a class 1 student. “The couple are daily-wage workers and have been living in this panchayat for the past three years. From what I learned, on Friday, the father was away at work and the mother was putting clothes to dry when the child was abducted. Three of their kids were watching TV at home and the victim went missing. Initially, the mother thought she was at the neighbour’s home as she often goes there. When she wasn’t found there, they eventually went to the police,” said Santosh.
Amid outrage over the incident, Congress MP K Muraleedharan lashed out at the state government.
“It was a heart wrenching incident and an insult to our state. What is the difference now between Kerala and a state like Uttar Pradesh? Is there any security here? The CM needs to take stringent measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents,” he said.
The BJP, too, spoke along similar lines, with Union minister of State for external affairs V Muraleedharan lashing out at the police and the state government for “tooting its horn” by announcing the arrest of the accused. “Why could the police not prevent the incident which took place during the daytime? Moreover, the culprit was able to mislead the police during questioning,” he said.
General education minister V Sivankutty said steps will be taken to get accurate data about interstate workers, their locations and their backgrounds. “Kerala gives a lot of consideration to migrant workers and their families in ways that other states don’t. But they should not consider that as our weakness. We need to be more strict about this. Wherever they stay, they need a clearance certificate from the local police. Whoever brings these workers into the state must possess a license from the labour department and he must be responsible for them. We are considering framing a labour law in the state for migrant workers without interfering with the central laws,” the minister told a local TV channel.