Aligarh murder case: The brutal murder of a 2.5-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh has triggered a national outrage. The horrific crime witnessed angry reactions on the social media with people demanding harshest possible punishment for the two arrested accused. A hashtag with the victim’s name has attracted thousands of tweets in the last 24 hours.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, the authorities have now invoked National Security Act in the case. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has also been formed to probe the case. Uttar Pradesh ADG Anand Kumar (Law and Order) said that the accused will also be tried under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
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“We are proceeding with it as an NSA case, we’ll try to get it to a fast track court. There is no mention of rape or acid in postmortem report. Two accused have been arrested, five police officials have been suspended,” news agency ANI quoted SSP Aligarh Akash Kulhary, as saying.
How the crime unfolded
On Sunday June 2, locals spotted a few stray dogs dragging a garbage bag in a locality in Aligarh. They were horrified by what they saw. Human body parts were seen inside the bag. Soon, the police arrived at the spot. The body was identified of a girl who had gone missing on May 30. The accused had abducted her from right outside her house. They then strangled her. Post-mortem report ruled out an sexual assault on the child but her arm and a leg were broken.
Police arrested two persons – Zahid and Aslam – on the basis of the complaint of the victim’s father. The victim’s father told the police that he had given a loan of Rs 50,000 to Zahid who was not returning the money. The two even had a fight over the issue and Zahid had warned the girl’s father of dire consequences.
“The girl’s father told us that he had a money dispute with Zahid who had threatened him with dire consequences. We questioned Zahid and it was revealed that the body was hidden at Aslam’s house. The body was later found at the garbage dump,” Aligarh SSP told ANI.
Shockwave across country
The brutal murder has sent shockwave across the country. From Bollywood personalities to political leaders – thousands of people have joined the call for fast tracking of the case and severe most punishment for the accused.
“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,” Congress president Rahul Gandhi said in his tweet.
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.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 7, 2019
“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,” said Priyanka Gandhi.
“How can somebody even think of doing such a thing? Speechless,” said Abhishek Bachchan, adding that he was ‘disgusted’ and ‘angered’ by what has happened.
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?
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) June 7, 2019
Meanwhile, security in Aligarh and nearby areas has been tightened to prevent any untoward incident as tension mounted in the region after the details of the crime emerged.
