A tragic incident occurred in Kerala’s Ernakulam district where a five-year-old girl was sexually assaulted and strangled to death by a man named Asfaq Aslam who had recently moved into their building. The accused was arrested on Friday night, but due to his intoxicated state, it took hours to extract information from him. The girl, hailing from Bihar, had gone missing on Friday evening after CCTV footage showed her being taken away by the accused.
The police identified the culprit as Asfaq Aslam from Bihar through the CCTV footage and took him into custody at 9.30 pm. However, due to his high level of intoxication, he initially couldn’t provide coherent answers to their questions. On Saturday (29 July 2023) morning, Aslam confessed to the crime and led the police to where he had left the child’s body in a marshy area, covered with garbage and sacks.
During the search, another person had spotted the girl with the accused in a nearby market and informed the police after seeing a missing post on Facebook. The police apologized on social media to the girl’s family for not being able to reunite her with them and defended themselves against accusations of delay.
The incident sparked outrage on social media, with people helping in the search operation. The girl’s body was taken to her school for people to pay their respects while demanding the death penalty for the accused.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and Union V Muraleedharan condemned the heinous crime and called for stringent action against the accused. They emphasized the need to address crimes against women and highlighted the importance of keeping proper records of inter-state workers in Kerala.
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.