Seven year old brutally killed & dismembered in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit

In a gruesome murder, a seven-year-old boy Moonis was killed and dismembered in Quraishiyan locality of Amariya tehsil in Pilibhit on Tuesday, sending shock waves in the area.

The child was allegedly lured by one Najeem (26) with the offer of ber and as the unsuspecting kin thought he had gone to play, the man chopped of his head before setting about to dismember the body at around 12.30 pm.

The child’s uncle Moeen claimed that when he saw Najeem cut Moonis “into pieces” he rushed to catch hold of the man. “He even tried to attack me but with the help of other villagers I was able to nab him.”

The PRO of superintendent of police, Pilibhit, said that Najeem was addicted to smack but the claim was contested by Moeen, who said that the man was not drugged nor was he an addict.

He denied any personal enmity with Najeem but was unable to tell what provoked the man to kill an innocent child with such brutality.

Bharatiya Janata Party’s general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak was quick to blame chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, who also holds the home portfolio, for the state’s poor crime situation in the state.

“The child’s murder is reflective of the overall crime situation in Uttar Pradesh,” Pathak said.

Taking on the chief minister for “shielding” transport minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, Pathak asked that if Akhilesh, who is also the home minister, is seen with Prajapati or Ram Murti Verma which police officer would take action against them. Verma was alleged to have been involved in the immolation of a journalist in Shahjahanpur.

The Supreme Court has ordered the state police to register a criminal case against Prajapati in a case of gang rape. The Opposition was now clamouring for the minister’s arrest but the government didn’t appear keen even though the IPC sections and the POCSO Act invoked against Prajapati provide for the arrest of the accused.

The state government has drawn flak for crime against women. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah have been hammering the point in almost each of their rallies asking the public if women were safe in the state.

The National Crime Records Bureau figures show that UP, along with Maharashtra, Bengal, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, reported the most crimes against women.

Although the state government has stubbornly denied its unenviable number one position in this category, the NCRB data shows that in 2015 the number of crimes against women in UP was 35,527. This was higher than 33,218 in Bengal and 31,216 in Maharashtra. However, this must also be viewed in the context of the much larger population in UP.

After the Prime Minister said in one of his speeches that UP had the highest number of cases against women, the chief minister had asked him to check his facts as, according to Akhilesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh were ahead of UP in this category.