The accused in the sexual assault and murder of a five-year-old girl in Kerala’s Aluva was booked under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offeneces Act (POCSO) in New Delhi in 2018, the Kerala police said on Tuesday, August 1. Aluva Rural Superintendent of Police Vivek Kumar told the media that Bihar-native Asfaq Alam was an undertrial prisoner for a month in the case. Asfaq was the sole accused in the case in which he was accused of sexually harassing a child, the SP said.
SP Vivek Kumar added that the 2018 case against the accused was found by comparing his fingerprint with the database in the National Crime Records Bureau to determine whether he was involved in other cases. The SP also said that they have written to the Delhi police seeking official documentation on non-bailable warrants, if any, issued against the accused there. “We will take further action once the official reply is received,” he said.
The SP said that in the 2018 case, Asfaq Alam was booked under section 12 (sexual harassment) of the POCSO Act and sections 354 (assault or criminal force to women) and 354 A (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code.
The five-year-old was sexually assaulted and murdered in Aluva on Friday, July 28. The girl was at home with her three siblings when the accused took her away. Upon returning from work, the parents of the child found that she was missing and complained to the police. Even though the accused was apprehended the same night with the help of CCTV visuals, the body of the child was traced only the next day. The Aluva police said that the child was sexually assaulted and had bruises all over her body. According to the police, she was strangulated to death after sexual assault.