The Aluva East police are gearing up to collect bank transaction details and record the statement of the accused in a case registered on a petition lodged by the family of the five-year-old migrant girl who was raped and murdered in Aluva, Kerala, in July 2023.
In their petition, the parents of the child have alleged that the accused, identified as Muneer, 50, of Choornikkara, cheated them of ₹20,000. The police had since registered a first information report (FIR) invoking charges under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property).
According to the FIR, the accused cheated the family under the pretext of arranging a rented house for them. However, he neither arranged the house nor repaid the money. It had emerged that Aluva MLA Anwar Sadath who had taken the initiative to move them to a rented house had given the accused ₹20,000 towards advance for the house. The family was not made aware of this.
Incidentally, the accused is the husband of Haseena Muneer who has since been suspended as the Ernakulam district general secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Mahila Congress for bringing “disrepute” to the organisation.
“We have recorded the statement of the family. We will soon record the statement of the accused and collect bank account details,” said police sources.
Asked whether Mr. Muneer’s wife was aware of the alleged cheating, police sources said it would be known only after recording the statement of the accused.
Ms. Muneer was unavailable for comment.
The Kerala government had given ₹10 lakh as financial aid to the child’s family, while another ₹1 lakh each drawn from construction workers’ welfare fund was deposited in the name of the three other children of the family.
The police registered the case after Industries Minister P. Rajeeve had called for stern action after the incident became public last week.
The parents had raised the matter with Raji Santhosh, president of Choornikkara panchayat, a month ago, who in turn alerted Mr. Sadath.
