KOCHI: Aluva police probing the abduction and sexual harassment of an eight-year-old girl is interrogating the friend of the accused in custody. Police are questioning a migrant worker named Mushtaq who lived near the house of the victim in Edayappuram after taking him into custody on Sunday. According to the police team, the accused Christal Raj, of Thiruvananthapuram, was a regular visitor to the house of Mushtaq who bought stolen mobile phones from the accused.
There the accused saw the victim before. Police believe that it was from Mushtaq that Christal came to know about the victim and her family. “Mushtaq buys stolen mobile phones and electronic gadgets from Christal. He later sold it to other migrant workers. From Mushtaq, the accused came to know about the time when the victim’s father stayed away from home. As per the information, the accused reached the victim’s house in the early hours after which he abducted and sexually harassed her,” a police official.
Police are collecting evidence to arraign Mushtaq as accused in the case. It has to be ascertained whether Mushtaq passed on information about the victim’s family and other whereabouts to Christal for conducting theft. It is being investigated whether he knew that the accused would abduct the victim. Once the evidence is received, the police will make a move to arrest Mushtaq. Police will file a petition seeking the custody of Christal on Tuesday.
Police investigation revealed that the abduction and the rape of the under-aged girl was a planned incident. “The accused had made all preparations to commit the crime. He did a recce of the place where the victim stayed. He knew when the victim’s father would not be at the house,” a police officer said.
In the wee hours of August 31, Christal abducted the daughter of a migrant couple from Bihar who was sleeping at her house in Edayapuram. Hearing the cries of the girl, the neighbours came out of their houses and launched a search. However, before they could trace the victim, the accused raped her. Police arrested Christal who was involved in over 15 criminal cases from a place under Marthanda Varma bridge in Aluva on the same day.