On November 17, Chennai Police arrested 28-year-old Najibuddin alias Raju Mani Nair for killing his lover’s 18-year-old daughter. The incident took place on November 12. The forensic experts said Najibuddin had intercourse with the corpse before fleeing the crime scene. He was hiding in Virar East. Najibuddin was a live-in partner of the victim’s mother.
Media reports decided to use Najibuddin’s alias to report the crime
Najibuddin, who has an alias Raju Mani Nair, was named Raju in the media reports. While media houses like Times of India and New Indian Express at least named him Najibuddin once in their reports, Mid Day decided to use only Raju Mani Iyer in the report and completely ignored the name Najibuddin.
The mother found her daughter motionless
The mother of the victim filed a complaint at Poonamalle Police Station, Chennai, against her lover for allegedly strangulating her daughter when she was not at home. The complainant said, “When I returned home from work, the house was locked from the outside. I opened the door with my keys and found my daughter lying unconscious. There were marks around her neck, and she was not breathing. I was in shock. Later, when I asked a neighbour, she said Raju had left in a hurry after locking the door.”
Najibbudin stole jewellery and cash
She further told the police that Najibuddin took away the earrings and the silver anklet of her daughter that she was wearing at that time. “A part of the jewellery, Rs 20,000 in cash, were missing. As per reports, the woman was not living with her husband for the past five years. Both of her children lived with her husband. Later, she started living with Najibuddin. A few months ago, she brought her daughter to live with them. In her statement to the police, she said, “Raju had promised me that he would take care of my children. That is the reason I brought them to stay with me.”
The victim’s mother accused Najibuddin of making sexual advances on her daughter
She added recently, Najibuddin started making sexual advances at her daughter. Around fifteen days ago, he touched her daughter inappropriately while they were sleeping. “She got up and shouted at him. Even since then, my daughter started to dislike him,” the mother said in her complaint. As per the New Indian Express report, following the incident, the mother had a fight with Najibuddin and asked him to leave.
Najibuddin might have planned the murder
The police are not denying the possibility that Najibuddin might have planned the murder as he had asked the victim’s mother to leave the phone at home when he was leaving for work. Inspector PR Chidambaramurugesan of the Poonamallee police (law and order) said, “The forensic team orally told me that the killer had sexual intercourse with the girl’s body.”
The police booked the Poonamallee police (law and order) under Sections 302 (murder) and 380 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). After committing the crime, Najibuddin went to his wife. Chidambaramurugesan said, “At the time of fleeing, he had taken the mobile phones of the deceased and her mother. Though he had kept his phone switched off, he had turned on one of the stolen phones, sending an alert to the police. We then contacted Virar police and reached there to arrest him.”
Najibuddin was previously involved in robbery and chain snatching
As per reports, the police had formed five special teams to arrest Najibuddin. He was traced based on the mobile location and CCTV footage. On Thursday, he was located in Mumbai and arrested by the police. Najibuddin was allegedly involved in crimes previously, including robbery and chain-snatching.
