Hajara, who went missing on September 14, was found on the railway tracks between Khar and Santacruz stations three days later, cut to ribbons by a passing train.

The autopsy, performed at Cooper Hospital, reveals that Hajara had been raped and strangled to death before her body was dumped on the tracks.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-VII), K L Prasad, who constituted a crack team to arrest the accused, said police officials questioned about 150 witnesses and rounded up 14 suspects, including Shaikh. Initially, though Shaikh denied any involvement, he later confessed to the crime, Prasad said.

Police were convinced they had theright man when Shaikh led them to the exact location along the tracks where he had dumped Hajara's body at 3 am on September 15. It was recovered three days later, when police escorted Saikh to the spot.

A resident of Kevnipada in Jogeshwari and a neighbour of the girl, Shaikh said he had developed a crush on Hajara's mother. However, his perverted mind drove him towards the girl instead. She was acquainted with him and called him `uncle'.

Unmarried and without a family, Shaikh used to sleep in a shanty behind a cowshed in Kevnipada. He struck up an acquaintance with Hajara while using the lane where she lived. On the night of September 14, an inebriated Shaikh offered the girl some chocolates and asked her to accompany him on the pretext of taking her on an outing. The child readily agreed, unmindful that she would be raped and killed a few hours later. Shaikh took her to the Dhanji Mehta garden in Vile Parle (W) and chatted with her for a while. Then, he took her behind some bushes and rapedher.

Recounting the incident to the police, Shaikh said the girl initially pleaded with him, saying: ``Uncle kya kar rahe ho (Uncle, what are you doing),'' Later she also screamed for help. Realising that Hajara could complain to her parents, he decided to kill her. A mason by profession, Shaikh kept a nylon rope used for measuring in his pocket. He used it to strangle the child. Carrying the girl in his arms, he went on to hail an autorickshaw and took it to Santacruz station. He says he walked along the tracks for a while before abandoning her body there to make it look like an accident.

The Samajwadi Party had also organised a rasta roko, claiming that the child's vital organs had been extracted during the postmortem examination. Angry residents also alleged that attempts had been made to kidnap other girls in the neighbourhood. Ironically, Shaikh had participated in the agitation and shouted slogans against the alleged police inaction. However, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), DSivanandhan denied any other kidnap attempts, saying it was merely a rumour. He said police inevestigations have revealed that no such kidnapping attempts and that these were rumours floated by some miscreants.