Hyderabad girl murder: Former watchman accused of killing five-year-old for ransom
Hyderabad: Police recovered the body of a five-year-old girl from a water sump in a Kowkur gated community early on Sunday. The area falls under Bollaram police station limits. According to family members and police, a former watchman allegedly killed the child for money. He later demanded Rs 20 lakh from her family.
The victim, Moses Aurelia, was the daughter of Milton Fernandez and Daisy Evangelia. The couple, from Bhadradri Kothagudem district, also has a son, Jaden Fernandez. The family has lived at the Villa Orchid gated community in Kowkur since 2019 for work. Kowkur falls under Medchal Malkajgiri district.
The suspect, Vikram (28), hails from Bihar and earlier worked as a watchman at the complex. The villa management recently removed him from the job. This led to a quarrel between him and members of the villa association. Around the same time, he also quarrelled with Aurelia’s family and left.
On Saturday evening, the complex held Bathukamma celebrations, and Aurelia’s family members went to attend. The girl was riding her bicycle near the clubhouse close to her home. Vikram suddenly arrived at the complex around 6.30 pm. The security staff allowed him inside.
He allegedly took the child from the clubhouse to the cellar. He tied her hands and legs and fastened a large stone to her body. He then dropped her into the water sump. After confirming her death, he walked out of the cellar alone around 7.30 pm, spoke to the guards and left.
When the girl went missing that evening, her family began searching around the villas. They could not trace her and alerted Bollaram police. Around 9 pm, Vikram called the girl’s grandfather, Aruldas. He claimed Aurelia was with him and threatened the family for Rs 20 lakh.
CCTV footage led police to the cellar in Hyderabad girl murder case
Aruldas said the family would pay if Vikram first showed the girl safe on a video call. The suspect spoke for two minutes and disconnected. Aruldas then informed the girl’s father, Milton. Milton called the Vikram, promised to arrange the money and asked him to return the child.
Police traced the call to the Secunderabad area and launched a search. They also examined CCTV cameras in the villa complex. The footage showed the suspect leaving the cellar alone. Suspecting the girl was inside, police searched the cellar thoroughly and found her body in the sump early on Sunday.
The family received the body after a postmortem at Gandhi Hospital. Malkajgiri Police Commissioner Sumathi, DCP Sridhar and Malkajgiri MP Etela Rajender visited the spot. They consoled the bereaved family.
Around 4 am on Sunday, Vikram called Aruldas again from a new number. He demanded money and then switched off his phone. Police reportedly traced the call to Patancheru through the phone signal. They reportedly took Vikram into custody early that morning.
However, police were yet to confirm his arrest. CCTV footage shows Vikram speaking to on-duty guards Sunil, Jayaraj and Hare Krishna as he left. All three guards are from Bihar. Police have detained all three of them for questioning.