Six-yr-old sexually assaulted after being murdered

The six-year-old girl who was found floating in a well in Bhiwandi on March 8 was a victim of revenge killing. And, she may have been sexually assaulted after being murdered.

Saira Bano went missing from her home in Shantinagar, Bhiwandi, on March 4. Her father Mohammad Khan, the owner of a flour mill in the locality, filed a missing complaint at Shantinagar police station on the same day.

Initially, people thought that a gang might be involved in the kidnapping of minor girls. In the past, too, several minor girls have gone missing from the area. The case was later transferred to the Crime Branch.

Officers from the Crime Branch started questioning people of Shantinagar after Bano’s body was found in a well at Kalvar village. “After questioning a couple of men, we came to know that Bano used to frequent her neighbour Aslam Ansari’s home. Ansari, 35, was often seen playing with her. He was, however, not at his home since March 4,” said senior police inspector Abhay Yewle.

“On Wednesday, we came to know that Ansari had returned to his home. We picked him up for questioning. During interrogation, he admitted to having killed Bano. He told us that he wanted to take revenge on Bano’s father for having assaulted him in front of his wife and other people a year ago.” 

Ansari is married and works in a powerloom. He told police that he had gone to Nashik on March 4, after killing Bano. “There were injuries on her private parts. Ansari told us that he had strangulated her first and then assaulted her sexually. He had taken her to Kalvar village by luring her with the promise of taking her to a fair.

(The names of the victim and her father have been changed to protect their identities)