The special investigation team (SIT) probing the sexual assault and murder of a five-year-old girl child near Aluva on Friday will visit Bihar, if need be, to identify if the accused Asafak Aslam had been involved earlier in such crime, it is learnt.
Asafak, a native of Bihar, was arrested from Aluva on Saturday.
Sources said that there were no criminal cases against him in his home district in Bihar. It has to be seen whether there are cases against him in other districts in that State. The SIT’s primary focus now is on probing all local angles relating to the child’s murder.
A West Bengal native who was suspected to have been complicit in the crime was let off after interrogation on Sunday.
Chargesheet in a month
“Efforts are underway to file the chargesheet in a month, for which lab results are awaited. It emerged during interrogation that Asafak was not intoxicated when he committed the rape and murder. He consumed intoxicants after committing the crime. He waited till the market was deserted and took the child to an abandoned area,” they said.
Asafak was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days and sent to Aluva sub-jail. The police had sought seven-day custody of the 29-year-old for further interrogation, on which the court will take a call on Monday.
Although there are reports that the accused was involved in theft from migrant families in the area, no FIRs have been registered against him in Ernakulam Rural police district.
The child was buried at a public crematorium at Aluva on Sunday. Earlier in the day, her body was kept at the school in Thaikattukara where she was studying in Class I, for members of the public to pay homage. Her elder sister too is a student of the school.
The child was reported missing around 3 p.m. on Friday and visuals of the child walking along with Asafak had emerged late in the evening on the day. The child’s body was discovered from a secluded spot in the Aluva market on Sunday morning. The accused reportedly lured the child by offering her fruit juice and sweets.
Asafak who was taken into custody in an intoxicated condition had initially tried to mislead the police by claiming that he had handed over the child to another person, triggering a fresh manhunt. He later confessed to the crime. The girl, the child of a migrant couple from Bihar, was apparently strangulated using a cloth, as per the post-mortem examination report.
A couple of people from the locality had seen the accused walk with the child to the market. He reportedly told them that she was his daughter. The probe team is led by the Aluva Deputy Superintendent.
