Death of a two-year-old girl in Aligarh

On 30 May 2019, a two-and-a-half-year-old girl went missing in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. A police report was filed the following day. On 2 June 2019, her body was found in a garbage dump after stray dogs had disturbed the remains. The case caused widespread outrage and led to the spread of misinformation on social media through hashtags and posts.

On 5 June 2019, police stated that the girl had been abducted and killed as an act of revenge stemming from a monetary dispute involving her father. According to the family, the primary accused, Zahid Ali, had previously threatened them over the dispute. Police investigations indicated that Zahid lured the girl and killed her with the assistance of a man named Aslam, at the latter's home. Her body was reportedly wrapped in a dupatta belonging to Zahid's wife before being dumped.

ADG (Law and Order) Anand Kumar described the incident as "shocking" and said police would investigate the matter thoroughly. Although police ruled out rape as a cause, vaginal swabs were sent for forensic testing amid disputed claims from the victim's family that she had been raped. The SSP of police, Akash Kulhari, said the cause of death was determined through post-mortem to be choking, resulting from ante-mortem injuries.

On 7 June 2019, the investigation was handed to a six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), which included a forensic science team and the Special Operations Group, tasked with conducting a fast-track inquiry. The POCSO Act was invoked in the case despite the post-mortem finding no evidence of sexual assault. Police also denied reports that the victim's eyes had been gouged out, and the National Security Act was invoked against the accused given the seriousness of the crime.

Forensic examination by the science laboratory in Agra reached no conclusion on sexual assault, leading police to seek further examination from a laboratory in Lucknow and the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Chandigarh. Subsequent findings attributed the reported eye and arm injuries to postmortem decomposition and insect activity, while also documenting a fractured left leg and chest injury.

Zahid Ali and a second man, Aslam, were arrested on 4 June 2019 and confessed to killing the victim over an unpaid loan of 10,000 rupees. Zahid's wife, Shagufta (referred to in one account as Shabusta), and his brother, Mehdi Hasan, were arrested on 8 June 2019 on charges of criminal conspiracy and causing the disappearance of evidence.