Kerala rape case: Accused was involved in another POCSO case before, say police

The Kerala Police held an identification parade in the heinous rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl at the Aluva Sub Jail Tuesday. Tajuddin, a head load worker, who was a key witness as he saw accused Ashfaq Alam escorting the girl, took part in it. Alam allegedly raped and murdered the girl and dumped her body in a gunny bag behind the Aluva market. The brutal murder of the innocent child took place on July 29. 

The parade was held after the Aluva Magistrate Court gave a nod to the police on Monday to go ahead with it in connection with a POCSO case. The court will also consider the petition for custodial interrogation of Alam.

Tajuddin's testimony helped the police crack the case faster. Before attending the identification parade, Tajuddin told the media that he will do everything in his capacity to ensure that the accused Ashfaq gets the highest punishment. "I had clearly seen him that day with the minor girl. I am going to identify and testify the same to the police today," he said while regretting that he didn't have a premonition that the girl was with her kidnapper. 

"I had seen the girl walking with him. She had a chocolate in her hand. When I asked, Alam stated that it was his daughter," he said with a sigh while talking to media in Kochi. 

In the preliminary interrogation, the accused stated that he committed the murder alone, but the police will check if anyone else was involved. Tajuddin had testified that he had seen two men follow the accused. Initial police probe confirmed that Alam acted alone, however, in light of the testimony, the team is also looking to see if there are more people involved in the crime.  

Accused Alam has past criminal record

The Ernakulam Rural Police while trying to find the criminal antecedence of Alam, updated his fingerprints in the database and found that Alam was taken into custody in a 2018 POCSO case for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl. He was arrested by Ghazipur Police and secured bail after a month. After getting bail, Alam went absconding. 

Excise checks homes of migrant workers 

Meanwhile, following the murder of a five-year-old girl in Aluva, excise raids were conducted at the camps of non-state workers. The team also searched the room where the accused Asfaq Alam was staying. No intoxicants were found in his room. Three persons including the accused were living in a single room without electricity. Simultaneous inspection was conducted at more than 50 places in Aluva and surrounding areas.

During the search, intoxicants including cannabis were seized. The inspection was conducted as per the instructions of the Excise Commissioner. Excise has also informed that inspection will continue in centres where non-state workers live in groups. Alam, the prime accused, was under the influence of intoxicating substances when he was taken into custody. Due to this, it was not possible to collect information from the accused at the first stage.