A five-year-old girl who went missing from her house in Kochi on Friday afternoon was found dead behind Aluva market on Saturday. The girl went missing around 3 pm on Friday and the police were informed after 7 pm that day.
Reportedly the police found out through CCTV footage that the child was with a man called Ashwaq Aslam who stayed in the same building as the girl's family near Garage Junction in Kochi. Police reportedly apprehended the Bihar native in question around 9:30 pm on Friday but did not find the girl.
Ernakulam Rural SP, Vivek Kumar told the media, "An FIR was registered at 8 PM on Friday and within an hour, we found the accused. He was in an inebriated state and it was difficult to get details from him."
Kumar said that after a whole night of interrogation, Aslam confessed and accepted committing the crime.
Further details and the motive are still under investigation, informed the senior police official.
He then said that locals informed seeing Aslam with the minor girl near Aluva market and the police rushed to the spot. After searching the area with the locals, the police found the girl's body.
According to the reports, people said the area behind the market region was used by anti-social elements and alcohol and drug consumption was rampant there.
A local trade union worker told the media that he saw Aslam with the child on Friday. He said, "I asked him who the girl was. He claimed that it was his child and said he was going behind the market area to drink alcohol. However, today morning I saw the CCTV visuals of the missing child and Aslam on social media and informed the police."
Police said further details will be out after the inquest of the body and they were also probing the involvement of other people too.
