National Post (National Edition)
Father faces murder charge in ‘heart-wrenching’ case
Amber Alert led to arrest, police say
The alarms rang out in the middle of the night, triggered by a mother’s urgent pleas to police to save her daughter hours after she celebrated her 11th birthday.
Many jolted awake by the ringing of an Amber Alert hoped Riya Rajkumar, who was last seen with her father, would be found safe. Those hopes were dashed Friday when police found the child’s body in the home of her father, who was later charged with first-degree murder.
“It’s very heart- wrenching,” said Peel regional police Const. Danny Marttini, making particular note of the mother’s pain. “We have to remember that this is a family, and she’s now moving forward without her daughter.”
Riya had just celebrated a joint Valentine’s Day birthday with her mother before being dropped off at a gas station in Mississauga, Ont., on Thursday afternoon for a visit with her father, Roopesh Rajkumar, who did not live with them.
When he failed to return Riya home at the scheduled time, Marttini said the mother became concerned. That anxiety morphed into something more serious after Rajkumar, an ex-boyfriend, allegedly indicated to the girl’s mother that he planned to harm both himself and their child, Marttini said.
“She came in already fully concerned saying, ‘ this is what he’s saying to me, I’m concerned for the well-being of my daughter, I need some help,’ ” she said.
Marttini said police began investigating the situation right away, but did not immediately have grounds to enter Rajkumar ’s home, where Riya’s body was found roughly five hours after she was reported missing.
Shortly before entering the home, however, police had issued an Amber Alert in Riya’s disappearance. The alert, released just after 11:30 p.m., was issued via the national Public Alerting System on cellphones across the province.
That bulletin, police said, directly led to Rajkumar’s arrest.
Ontario Provincial Police Staff Sgt. Carolle Dionne said a motorist driving on Highway 11 in Oro-Medonte, Ont., shortly before midnight noticed Rajkumar’s vehicle, which had been described in the Amber Alert.
When Peel police took custody of Rajkumar from the provincial force, Marttini said officers became aware of an undisclosed “medical condition” that meant he required treatment at a trauma centre. Rajkumar remained in hospital under police custody on Friday evening.
Police declined to offer details on the cause of either Rajkumar’s condition or Riya’s death.
Both Peel and provincial police said they continued to deal Friday with another form of fallout from the Amber Alert — people calling to complain about the latenight alerts or repeat broadcasts that were issued after Rajkumar was in custody.
Dionne lamented that some people valued their own convenience over the safety of a child, a sentiment echoed by Marttini.
“We’re talking about a child that was missing,” Marttini said. “I feel for everyone, but given the circumstances, I think it did lead to the arrest of the individual. I think that’s what we have to focus on.”