Man arrested for attacking 4-year-old neighbour with knife

Navi Mumbai: A four-year-old was first throttled and then grievously injured with a knife around the eyes after her 27-year-old neighbour attempted to kill her.

The child was brought by her 23-year-old neighbour, Nikita Sachin Jaiswal, to her house on Sunday evening. Jaiswal recently went through miscarriage and was recovering in her parent’s house in sector 21, Turbhe village, Navi Mumbai. “Nikita is our neighbour, and she often spends time with my daughter. She was with my daughter in our compound and they went to her house because my daughter asked for her nails to be painted,” said Shoaib Akthar, the child’s father.

According to the complaint, the accused, Omkar Shantaram Hilam, is Nikita’s cousin and he did not like the child coming over. He questioned Jaiswal about it before kicking her in the stomach. Then he directed his ire at the child, allegedly attempting to strangulate her. “He attacked her with a knife and there were injuries beneath her eyebrows and eyes,” Akthar said. The child was taken to NMMC hospital, then to Sion hospital, and finally to a private hospital, where she underwent a minor surgery around her eyes.

Akthar has no clue as to why his child was attacked. “We are also wondering about the reason for the attack. We have known the family for many years. Infact, Omkar has been residing here post lockdown,” recalled the father.

A complaint was filed by Nazhat Praveen Shoaib Akhtar Shaikh, the child’s mother. The APMC police registered a case under sections 109 (attempt to murder), 118(2) (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita. The accused is arrested, and we have produced him before court, said senior police inspector Ajay Shinde.