23-yr-old held for raping, killing minor

MUMBAI: The Mahim police on Friday arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly kidnapping, raping and killing a five-year-old girl from his Mahim neighbourhood.

The accused, Mehendi Hasan Shaikh, confessed to the police that he had been eyeing the girl for days, before kidnapping her while she was asleep with her parents. The accused was arrested a day after the girl’s body was found abandoned in an isolated place behind two cars at Mahim during the search by her parents and police. According to the police, Shaikh had strangled her with his hands after he raped her. After the girl went missing at 3.30am on Thursday, her parents approached the police to report the case not knowing that their daughter’s killer was accompanying them, pretending to be a helpful neighbour. The officers said after the body was found, officers from Mahim police station sprung into action and began with scanning the CCTVS footage from nearby buildings. “The dog squad were led to the police station twice by the scent, which was confusing,” said a police officer. The CCTV footage at Lady Jamshedji First Cross Road showed a man carrying the sleeping victim in his arms at 2.10am, minutes after she was kidnapped. On questioning the local residents, the officers found out that Shaikh could be the suspect as he was infamous for staring at women. After investigations, the police zeroed in on Shaikh and detained him within 24 hours of the incident. “We have arrested Shaikh, a father of three, on charges of rape, murder, kidnapping and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual offence Act, 2012,” said Ravindra Shisve, additional commissioner of police, Central Region.