Hyderabad shocked as neighbour confesses to killing 6-year-old

Students and teachers demand the suspect be hanged.

HYDERABAD: The murderer of six-year-old Malaika, whose body was found in a waste dump on Sunday, turned out to be none other than her 35-year-old neighbour, Wajid. He confessed to the crime on Monday and revealed the gruesome manner in which he took her life.

“Malaika began to shout as I attempted to kidnap her, so I squeezed her neck to silence her,” Wajid told the police. He also revealed that before throwing the girl away, he took her to his home, where she fell unconscious. Wajid went over this confession in a civil court and to the media. However, it is still unclear why he kidnapped and killed her. He has been remanded to judicial custody for five days.

A school teacher residing in Mukhi Narain Das, Muhammad Javed, told the Fort police on Saturday that Malaika had gone missing after her elder sister left her alone in a market after a fight. Her body was found from a garbage dump in Fakir ka Pirh area on Sunday morning. Although Malaika’s parents did not allow an autopsy to be conducted, DSP Ahmed Qureshi said that her face was bruised and that she was probably choked to death.

Students and teachers from different schools, including the one that Malaika attended, gathered outside the press club on Monday to voice their anger. They held placards, chanted slogans and demanded that the culprit be publicly hanged.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2011.