Mumbai: The two teens, who were booked on Sunday for the alleged abduction and murder of a three-and-a-half-year-old girl from their locality, participated in the search for her and even took food for her parents every day, the police said on Monday.
The boys, both 16 years old, were residents of Haji Kasam chawl in Nagpada. One of them, the main accused, stayed next door to the victim, Junera Khan, who would routinely go to his house to play. He, along with his friend, is alleged to have rendered Junera unconscious using chloroform, strangled her with the wire of a cell phone charger, and then dumped her body a short distance away.
Investigating officers told The Hindu that by the time the two boys returned home after disposing of Junera’s body, the entire locality had come to know about her disappearance.
“Junera’s parents were being consoled by their neighbours, including parents of the boys. The duo came forward to help in any way that they could. For the next couple of weeks, while we were working on apprehending the kidnappers, the boys were taking food for her parents as they were too distraught to cook. They even participated in the search, and one of them would slip away every one or two days to make a ransom call to her father,” said an officer.
The police said the boys had constant discussions about the matter whenever they could, and also visited the site where Junera’s body had been disposed of to check if it was undisturbed or whether there were signs of someone having discovered it.
“The boys also went through an elaborate pretence of calling the victim’s father to Kalwa with the ransom amount. The entire thing was a sham meant to keep her family believing that Junera was alive, and that she would be reunited with them once the ransom was paid,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I) Manoj Kumar Sharma.
The J.J. Marg police are now probing whether the duo had help from anyone else, or whether someone had knowledge of it before the duo were booked.
The police’s job, meanwhile, was made difficult on Sunday when reports started doing rounds on WhatsApp about Junera’s body being found in pieces. The message that was circulated in Hindi shortly after her body was recovered, claimed that her head and limbs had been separated. The news spread through the locality and nearby areas within an hour, causing people to flock to the spot.
The police had a hard time convincing the people that the body was decomposed but intact, after which the crowd dispersed.
