4-year-old Bhiwandi girl had hands eaten by animals, not cut off by attacker, claims report

Police have made a breakthrough in the murder case of a minor girl who was found with her hands missing. According to the primary medical report, the victim’s hands were not cut off by her attacker but were devoured by animals.

Deputy commissioner of police from Thane commisionerate, S Bhardwaj said, “We have received the primary report of the doctors who examined the body and also visited the site where it was dumped. As per the report, the wounds in the flesh indicate that the hands were cut from both sides. The visible bones also indicate that the hands were not severed off, but were eaten up.” The police are waiting for the forensic lab results to confirm the same.

The victim, Payal Prasad,4, went missing on April 1 following which, a kidnapping case was lodged with the Bhoiwada police station in Bhiwandi. On April 4, police found her decomposing body in the shrubs approximately 300 metres away from her house.

The accused, Abid Mohammed Ajmir Shaikh,20, a power loom worker, was arrested from Bihar’s Naxal area of Supol and is currently in judicial custody. According to the investigation, Shaikh had previously borrowed Rs1500 from Payal’s father Mahadev, but was unable to return the money. The two men had a heated argument during which Mahadev slapped Shaikh. Payal was witness to the heated exchange and laughed when she saw the suspect being hit. This made him angry and he decided to kill her out of revenge.

Police said that Shaikh had attempted to rape the minor, but ended up strangling her when she tried to scream for help.