The five-year-old migrant girl who had gone missing from her rented apartment in Choornikkara panchayat near Aluva town on Friday evening was allegedly sexually abused and murdered. Her body with numerous grievous injury marks was found dumped covered in waste in a shrubby, abandoned spot in the Aluva market on Saturday around 11.30 a.m.
Shortly thereafter, the Aluva East police recorded the arrest of Asafak Alam, 29, of Bihar, who had been in their custody since Friday night. He was initially booked under IPC 363 (abduction) with IPC 302 (murder), and relevant sections of the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act to be added to the original first information report (FIR).
The police have not yet ruled out the involvement of more people with at least one person reportedly in custody. Further interrogation of the accused is under way. A special investigation team led by the Aluva Deputy Superintendent of Police and the Aluva East inspector as the investigation officer has been formed to probe the case.
The body was located nearly 20 hours after the girl had gone missing on Friday around 3 p.m. However, a formal complaint was lodged with the Aluva police by the victim’s mother only at 7.10 p.m., and the FIR for abduction was registered around an hour later.
Following a widespread search based on witness statements and CCTV footage, the police tracked down the suspect to Thottakattukara near Aluva around 9.30 p.m. However, not much information could be elicited from him as he appeared to be in a highly intoxicated state.
“He also tried to mislead us. He eventually confessed to the crime following an interrogation by the District Police Chief [Ernakulam Rural] in the morning and agreed to show us the spot where the body was dumped. The spot was marked with three big stones, while the body was covered in plastic and other waste. We are also questioning many people,” said A. Srinivas, DIG, Ernakulam Range.
The accused had taken room in the same apartment as the victim’s family only three days ago. The police were looking into the motive behind the gruesome crime, the purpose of the visit of the accused to the city, and how long he had been here. His criminal antecedents are also being verified with the Bihar Police.
The police completed inquest proceedings and post-mortem at the Government Medical College, Ernakulam.
