(Trigger warning: Descriptions of rape and violence. Reader discretion advised.)
Asfaq Alam, the 24-year-old migrant labourer from Bihar who allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered a five-year-old girl in Kerala's Aluva, committed the crime alone, Ernakulam Rural Superintendent of Police (SP), Vivek Kumar, confirmed to The Quint.
On Thursday, 3 August, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case took the accused to the crime scene near Aluva Market for evidence collection. The body of the five-year-old, the second child of Bihari migrant parents living in Aluva, was found near the market on 29 July.
Earlier, it was speculated that other persons were also involved in the crime, with witnesses claiming that they saw two others at the market with Alam.
"As per the evidence, it appears that the accused committed the crime alone," the official said.
The child's clothes and slippers were recovered from the crime scene on Thursday, the SP added.
On Tuesday, 1 August, the SP had revealed that 24-year-old Alam was jailed for a month in connection with another POCSO case at New Delhi's Ghazipur police station in 2018, for allegedly molesting a 10-year-old girl.
"Ghazipur Police had registered a case against him. Alam was jailed for a month. But he went absconding after obtaining bail in the case," SP Vivek Kumar had told the media.
In addition to Section 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the Ghazipur Police had booked him under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 354A (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
'Motive Was Sexual in Nature'
Alam, who hails from Bihar's Araria district, came to Kerala in 2020, where he has been working as a daily wage labourer, Ernakulam Rural Additional SP K Biju Mon told The Quint.
He added that the Alam's motive was "sexual in nature."
"We are yet to get details about his family in Bihar. We will be sending a team to his hometown for further probe."Ernakulam Rural Additional SP
Speaking to The Quint on Monday, 31 July, the five-year-old girl's family had said that Alam moved in their neighbourhood only a few days before the incident.
The family said that one of their neighbours, a man who runs a chicken shop in the area, found Alam a room in the building. The police said they had taken the man into custody, but he was let off after questioning.
'Tried To Mislead the Police'
As per the CCTV footage from 28 July, Alam was seen in the Aluva Garage area with the child at 3 pm. "At 3:05 pm, he was seen crossing the highway with the child, and two minutes later, he boarded a KSRTC bus that was en route to Thrissur (neighbouring district). At 3:10, he got down at a bus stop nearby," the Additional SP told The Quint.
After the girl's family filed a missing complaint, a lookout notice was circulated with the CCTV visual of Alam and the girl. He was later picked up at Thottakkattukara in Aluva at around 9 pm, the police said.
"He was heavily inebriated when a patrolling van picked him up. During questioning, he told us he sold the girl off to another person, deliberately misleading us. He was not giving us proper answers," the official told The Quint.
However, the next morning, they received a tipoff from a union worker in the Aluva market, saying he saw the man with the girl the previous evening. "At around 12:30 pm, we went to the market. CCTV visuals showed him and the girl going to a garbage dump nearby. When we checked the area, we discovered her body," the Additional SP said.
"The body was hidden with rocks, and only parts of her hands and legs could be visible," the police official said.
On 29 July, Aluva MLA, Anwar Sadath, had written to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, seeking a comprehensive probe into the child's murder. He had said he suspected the role of a racket.
"This should not be considered as an isolated incident. The fears of the people could be allayed only if the culprits are given maximum punishment," he had said.
'Probing Criminal History'
"During the investigation, we ran his prints in the National Crime Records Bureau for any possible matches and we came across the case registered against him in Ghazipur, New Delhi," the Additional SP said.
The Quint reached out to the Ghazipur Police but they refused to comment on the 2018 case.
The SIT is still ascertaining where Alam lived before he moved to the building next to the migrant family's house, why he moved to Kerala, and whether he has a criminal history in Bihar.
"He has no other record of criminal history in Kerala," the official said.
On Tuesday, a court in Aluva granted his custody to the SIT for 10 days. He was lodged in the Aluva sub-jail.
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