In a shocking act of violence, abductors in north Bihar have killed a five-year-old girl and thrown her severely mutilated body on a road near her house, spreading a wave of fear and anger against the police in the area.
Three days after Simran Kumari alias Lukkhi, 5, went missing from near her home in Benipatti in Madhubani district, her poor family of labourers was told by neighbours about the girl’s body lying on a road near their house on Saturday. The family, which had lodged a formal missing complaint at the police station on the day she went missing, felt devastated to see the dead girl’s mutilated body.
The girl’s left eye had been scooped out and her left hand and left foot had also been chopped off apparently with a sharp weapon by the unidentified abductors and killers, said the police. Even her stomach was left open, added police officials, denying there was information about a ransom call.
“This level of violence is very rare and shocking. We will know about it in details after the autopsy report comes in. There was no demand for ransom as the family is poor. We are trying to find the culprits,” said DSP Rajesh Kumar Singh Prabhakar to this newspaper.
The dead girl’s father, Santosh Mukhia, works at a private factory in Delhi and belongs to a backward caste. He was home when his daughter went missing. Efforts to contact him were fruitless, but sources said it was common for the police in Bihar to deny the presence of ransom angles when the victims of abduction are poor families.
Alleged inaction by the police in Bihar following complaints of missing children has led to dozens of abducted children turning up dead across the state in recent months. The police in this case, as usual, claimed to have conducted raids to trace the girl.
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Mumbai port officials had a close shave
ATEEQ SHAIKH
Mumbai, March 25
It was stroke of luck for the officials of the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) on Saturday, who were to visit the ill-fated chemical tanker Royal Diamond 7 to question the sailors of the tanker about the fire that had occurred a week ago. The second explosion occurred a few hours before they were scheduled to visit the tanker.
“The MbPT officials were to go on Saturday on board the vessel to record statements of the chief master and other crew members on how the explosion and fire occurred March 17 at the New Pir Pau Jetty after it had discharged the chemical. Before they started from the port, there was a message on the Vessel Traffic Management System that an explosion had taken place,” said a source.
After the emergency message was received, all four tugs were pressed into service.