Aluva Murder: Body of five-year-old laid to rest, hometown bids tearful adieu 

KOCHI: The body of the five-year-old girl killed in Aluva was cremated in the presence of a huge crowd. Thousands of people including the local people attended her funeral rites held at the public crematorium in Keezhmadu Panchayat at 11 am Sunday morning. Heart wrenching scenes were witnessed in the crematorium. Many including women burst into tears. Some cursed the accused and the police.

When the body was kept for public homage at Thaikkattukara LP School, hundreds of people paid their tributes. Seeing the dead body, classmates, locals and teachers burst into tears. Some fainted after seeing the body.

Meanwhile, more details about the murder have surfaced. The police said the accused identified as Asafak Alam committed the crime alone. The child was sexually abused and killed on Friday at around 5:30 pm. The child's private parts and internal organs were injured. The police indicate that the other wounds on the body were caused by force.

Asafak, who came to Kerala one and a half years ago, is also an accused in a theft case. He was involved in mobile theft. He had been engaged in construction work in various places in Kerala. He will be produced in the magistrate's house Sunday morning. Those close to him is being interrogated.

Asafak (26) of Bihar, kidnapped and murdered the girl, who was playing in the courtyard of the Mukkathu Plaza complex, where the migrants stay. He buried her body at a dumping area behind the Aluva Market, which is 1.5 kilometers away. Though the police caught the accused within five hours after the incident, they were not able to trace the child.

The child’s mother was in the room when Asafak abducted her from the place where she was staying near Thaikkattukara garage around 3:00 pm on Friday. Her father had gone out. She was the second child among the four children of the couple from Bishamparpur in Bihar. She was studying in the first class at Thaikkattukara School Complex. The police intensified search after seeing the CCTV footage of the accused walking with the child. It was also clear that he had boarded the bus.

After two stops, he got down near the market and was seen going to the garbage area. However, this was not found on Friday. The suspect was caught while he was sleeping on the verandah of a building around 9 pm. He first told police that he handed over the child to Zakir Hussain. When questioned him in detail yesterday, he told police that he got down at Aluva market with the child. Thajuddin, a porter at the market, confirmed this yesterday.

The body was found at a dumping area of the Aluva Market along the Periyar River on Saturday morning at around 10 am. Her hands were visible from the sack. The body was covered with concrete debris and vegetable waste. Only her underclothes were there when the body was found. He strangled her using the t-shirt she was wearing.