Aligarh: Last Sunday, the residents of this town were alerted of a horrific crime when stray dogs were pulling at what seemed to be human body parts from a garbage dump. Later, it was confirmed that the mutilated body was of a two-year-old girl, who had been missing since May 30.
The child was killed by neighbours who had a dispute with her grandfather over a loan, the police said.
Now, a hashtag with her name is trending on social media, bringing the case to national attention with politicians, celebrities and others tweeting about it. Already over 50,000 tweets expressing horror and outrage have been posted and the deluge hasn’t stopped. Most have demanded the harshest possible punishment for the killers. “Barbaric and evil,” many have tweeted.
The Aligarh police said the child was strangled. While the post-mortem has not confirmed rape, the police said stringent charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act have been added against two accused – Zahid and Aslam.
According to the police, the victim’s eyes were not gouged out, as her family alleged, but it appeared so because the body has been heavily decomposed. An arm and a leg were also found broken.
In fact, the child’s body was found in Tappal area, close to her home and on the outskirts of Aligarh. Zahid and Aslam knew the family well and lived less than half a km away. Their act of ‘revenge’ was so brazen that they dumped the body in the garbage deposit near the victim’s house.
The police said that Zahid had taken a loan of Rs 50,000 from the girl’s grandfather and still owed him Rs 10,000. Zahid and the girl’s grandfather had a fight over the issue just two days before the child was abducted. The victim’s family alleged that Zahid had threatened revenge for his “humiliation” and allegedly got Aslam to help him conceal the girl’s body.
The girl vanished from outside her home May 30. When her parents did not find her, they along with neighbours and relatives searched for the girl throughout the night and lodged a missing report with the police next morning. Three days later, a rag-picker woman screamed when she saw street dogs nibbling at what appeared to be like a little body wrapped in a cloth. It was full of maggots and gave of a foul, neighbours said.
Apparently, it took an entire day and protests by the family and neighbours for the police to arrest Zahid.
This was followed by suspension of five policemen for not showing urgency in tracking down the child.
Considering the gravity of the case, the matter will also be investigated under the National Security Act (NSA), an anti-terror law that enables detention of suspects for a year, the police said.
A senior police official said, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the case.
“When we interrogated Zahid he revealed that the body was hidden at Aslam’s house. However, the body was later found at the garbage dump,” police said.
Subsequently, the victim’s family and relatives blocked roads Thursday in protest and senior police officials rushed to the spot to pacify them. The protesters want the family members of the arrested accused also be arrested for the murder.
The sheer brutality of the crime has left many shaken.
Meanwhile, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “The horrific murder of a little girl in Aligarh, UP has shocked and disturbed me. How can any human being treat a child with such brutality? This terrible crime must not go unpunished. The UP police must act swiftly to bring the killers to justice.”
“The brutal murder in Aligarh is yet another inhuman, unspeakable crime against an innocent child. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain her parents must feel. What has become of us,” tweeted Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi.
Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted: “Just can’t get over the three-year old’s murder in Aligarh. How despicable a human the accused must be to have done something as heinous to her. As a society we continue to fail our children-their safety should be our priority, change of mindset towards our girls a necessity.
Actor Abhishek Bachchan said he was “disgusted and angered”. “How can somebody even think of doing such a thing? Speechless…” he tweeted.