The lawyers of Aligarh have pledged their support to the family of the two-and-half-year-old murdered brutally over a loan of Rs 10,000. The Bar Association declared on Saturday that no lawyer would represent the accused in court.
"We stand with the family," said Anoop Kaushik, general secretary of the Aligarh Bar Association. "No advocate will appear in court for the accused, and a lawyer from outside will also not be allowed to fight the case on their behalf. We will fight for the child."
Meanwhile, two more persons have been arrested in the grisly case, both related to 27-year-old Zahid who is already in custody. Thirty-two-old Shagufta is his wife and Mehndi Hasan is his brother. Police suspect the two helped the prime accused Zahid and Aslam, cover up the crime. Allegedly, the scarf in which the child's body was wrapped belonged to Shagufta.
The arrests were made on Saturday morning by the special investigation team formed to probe the killing in Tappal township.
Disturbingly, in 2014, Zahid was charged with the rape of his own minor daughter, and was out on bail. Aslam too has been charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) in 2014 and 2017, and faces charges under UP's Goonda Act.
The second POCSO case, in Delhi's Gokulpuri, also involved abduction of a minor.
To ascertain whether the child was subjected to sexual abuse, vaginal swabs have been sent for further forensic testing, the results of which are expected on Sunday. Though the preliminary examination said that there were no signs indicating sexual abuse, the police say it cannot be ruled out as the putrefaction of the body made the it hard to come to a conclusion in the post mortem.
There is heavy police deployment in the tense area as tempers rose over alleged police negligence in registering the case and taking action against the perpetrators. Teams of the state's Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and Uttar Pradesh police have been deployed in Tappal to control any unwarranted happenings.
Aligarh Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Akash Kulhari said they are looking into the phone records of all suspects. "The police are in the process of building a water-tight case against the accused so that it stands all legal scrutiny and speedy justice is delivered through a fast-track court," he added.
—Zee Media Newsroom
Two More Arrests
- Two more persons have been arrested, both related to 27-year-old Zahid who is already in custody. Shagufta, 32, is his wife and Mehndi Hasan is his brother.
- Police suspect the two helped the prime accused Zahid and Aslam, cover up the crime. Allegedly, the scarf in which the child’s body was wrapped belonged to Shagufta
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