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Monday, April 15, 2024

Bollywood expresses angst over murder of baby Twinkle Sharma

Indian public, social media and Bollywood are all outraged. Murder of little Twinkle was horrible; she was beaten before her death and her half eaten body was discovered by stray dogs from a garbage dump. But there is scant evidence against the two accused Muslim men except a suspicion by Twinkle's grandfather. Fearing sectarian angle police have applied National Security Act (NSA) in this case.

News Desk |

Social media was filled with outrage after a two-and-a-half-year-old girl was mutilated and killed in UP state. Bollywood stars joined all in demanding the harshest possible punishments for the accused.

Actors Sonam Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Twinkle Khanna, Sunny Leone and others from Bollywood have raised their voice against the murder of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl in UP. The girl was strangled to death with her eyes gouged out after her parents allegedly failed to repay the loan of Rs 10,000. It is reported that her body was found in a dumping ground near her house three days after she went missing from her house in Tappal town in Uttar Pradesh.

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Expressing their anger over the issue, Bollywood stars demanded the strictest punishment for the culprits. Many celebrities launched harsh tweets requesting the officials to take immediate action against the ‘heinous crime.’

Read more: Andhadhun: Bollywood’s best of 2018

According to reports, the girl’s body was discovered by the police after people saw a pack of stray dogs carrying the mutilated body parts. The accused in the case have been identified as neighbours of the girl’s family named Zahid and Aslam.

Bollywood expresses angst

Here is what the celebrities have tweeted:

Akshay Kumar: Horrified, upset and angry to know about baby…! This is definitely not the kind of world we want for our children. We need immediate and strictest punishment for such a heinous crime.

Twinkle Khanna: It is heartbreaking to hear about the horrific murder of the two and a half-year-old little girl in Aligarh. I would request Smriti Irani to ensure that swift action is taken against the perpetrators of this heinous crime.

Sunny Leone: I’m sorry… that you had to live in a world where humans no longer understand Humanity! May God look over you for Eternity as you are an Angel!

Ayushmann Khurrana: This is inhuman and barbaric.. My prayers for her family. Justice must be served!

Sonam K Ahuja: What has happened to baby is heartbreaking and horrific. I pray for her and her family. I also urge people to not make this into a selfish agenda. This is a little girl’s death, not a reason to spread your hate.

Sidharth Malhotra: Extremely disturbed by the news of… It’s scary to be living in a world where even innocent children are not safe. I urge our authorities to take action to ensure that such a heinous crime is never repeated again!

Abhishek Bachchan: Just so disgusted and angered hearing about… How can somebody even think of doing such a thing. Speechless.

After uproar on social media and especially Bollywood’s expression of angst – Aligarh Police have transferred the case to Fast track court for further summary trial and conviction. Probe in the matter is underway. More details are awaited.

Why such Public outrage? 

Twinkle murder has taken India by storm. There are several reasons for it. She was less than three years old, she was the only child of her parents who couldn’t conceive due to some medical issues. Though, contrary to initial reports and social media speculation, Twinkle wasn’t raped but she was found from a garbage dump being eaten by dogs, vultures and insects. And apparently there is evidence to believe that she was beaten severely and mutilated before her death. This sheer brutality inflicted upon the child is haunting her parents, the village of Tappal forever and everyone from the man on street to social media.

Hindu-Muslim angle? 

But there is another angle; the two accused – Zahid and Aslam – for her murder in police custody happen to be Muslims. While the crime is horrible, there is no real evidence connecting the two accused with the crime -except a belated thought by the grandfather of Twinkle that he had heated argument with these two men and they might have done this. Police now supports this contention though initially it failed to suspect them despite their living in close vicinity of Twinkle’s home in the village. These streets and houses were thoroughly searched before the child’s dog eaten body was discovered.

How Twinkle’s grandfather suspected the accused of murder?

As reported in Indian media, villagers had gathered around the garbage dump after the body was spotted and Twinkle’s grandfather saw Zahid passing by. The argument of a few days before came back to him and he was immediately suspicious that the child may have been killed by Zahid and Aslam.

According to media reports, grandfather then raised an alarm and the people around caught hold of Zahid and informed police. Zahid was handed over to police and a case registered against him and his brother on Twinke’s grandfather’s suspicion.

But according to police, they, along with a team from the Forensic Science Laboratory, had found sufficient clues to prove the girl was killed in the backyard of Zahid’s house.

However, questions remain: Why didn’t police examine the room, barely 100 metres from the girl’s house, during their door-to-door search? Why would the accused dump the body in a garbage heap right in front of their own house?

But police are certain. “There is no doubt that the two killed the girl and then dumped her body to decompose,” Aligarh senior superintendent of police Akash Kulhari said, “However, she was not sexually assaulted. No acid was thrown on her face.”

“Police made thorough attempts to search for the girl but, unfortunately, her dead body was found on 2 June,” he added.

“Zahid and Aslam have been arrested and we are going to impose the NSA, so that they do not get bail,” he said, “Also, we are requesting the court to fast-track the case for speedy justice.”

The NSA allows detention of a person to prevent him or her from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of India, the relations of India with foreign countries, the maintenance of public order, or the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community.

Village of Tappal is half Muslim

According to media reports, in this case, the NSA was invoked because of the nature of the case and the potential it has to disrupt and disturb law and order: Half the population in Tappal is Muslim, and the case could potentially take on communal overtones, as it did in the 2018 rape and murder of an eight-year-old in Kathua.

The family of the accused, including Zahid’s wife, mother, brother and sister, have fled their home in the wake of the crime. A police team are now on the lookout for them.

“If the girl’s body was kept in the backyard, it is certain Zahid’s family knew about it, which makes them party to the crime. We have sent teams to make more arrests,” another police officer involved in the investigation said.“One of the accused, Aslam, was arrested previously for allegedly raping his own daughter,” policeman added. Others suspect that why the two accused will dump the child’s body right in front of their own home? Why police did not find anything on them before the suspicion raised by Twinkele’s grandfather?