Intense public fury unfolded in Panavoor, near Nedumangad, on Sunday when the police brought Ashkar, the prime accused in the death of his partner Akhila’s one-and-a-half-year-old son Arshid, to the scene of crime for evidence collection.

Enraged local residents breached a heavy police cordon and physically assaulted the accused, as the law enforcers struggled to escort him through the crowd.

Ashkar was taken to the couple’s rented house in Karikkuzhy, a day after the 31-year-old man was arrested in connection with the toddler’s death. Post-mortem examination revealed that the child had been subjected to brutal torture leading to his death on Friday.

Autopsy findings

The autopsy revealed 51 injuries across the body, including fresh wounds and partially healed scars. The doctors confirmed that the physical trauma was the definitive cause of death. The report also established that the vomiting and coughing fit Ashkar initially claimed to have preceded the death of Friday was actually a direct result of a vicious physical assault that had been inflicted shortly after the child consumed food. Suspected deep burns were also observed on the soles of the toddler’s feet.

While the couple had allegedly lied to neighbours that the child’s arms were broken from an accidental fall, forensic evidence proved the fractures resulted from the child being violently stomped on.

Ashkar had initially taken the unresponsive child to a private hospital nearby, and claimed the boy fell ill while Akhila was away in Tamil Nadu for a dance programme. The child was later declared dead on arrival shortly after being transferred to the SAT Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.

The child’s biological father, S. Akhil, had died by suicide when Akhila was three months pregnant. Shortly after, Akhila moved in with Ashkar and relocated in the rented house. Attempts made by Akhil’s family to gain custody of the child had gone futile.

While gathering evidence, the investigators uncovered a suspected plot to destroy forensic evidence after the crime. The family purportedly washed the interiors of the house to erase bloodstains. Officers also discovered the remnants of the toddler’s clothes and various documents that were burnt to ashes in the backyard. Discarded plaster casts, which could have been used for the child’s broken arms, were also found near the house.

Prior to the police exercise, unidentified people vandalised Ashkar’s car that was parked in the area, the police stated.

Official sources added that Ashkar has been accused of subjecting his first wife, Amina, to extreme domestic abuse after their marriage in 2022. The victim had been allegedly tortured for dowry, and the assault left her in a coma for nearly a year at the Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital.