In a shocking incident from Mumbai’s Antop Hill area, 7-year-old Amayra Sheikh was strangled to death by her step-father Imran Sheikh (34) for staying up late and constantly using his mobile phone. The child’s behavior, including frequent phone calls to her biological father and insistence on meeting him, reportedly irked Imran, who believed it was disrupting his married life with Amayra’s mother Nazia. Investigations revealed that on Monday night around 8 PM, Imran lured Amayra out of the house under the pretext of taking her for a walk, took her to the Bhaucha Dhakka area, strangled her, and dumped her body into the sea.
Amayra lived with her mother Nazia, her step-father Imran, and four other siblings. Nazia had married Imran after two previous divorces. Amayra, the youngest of the children, had trouble sleeping early and often used Imran’s mobile phone late into the night. She was emotionally attached to her biological father and frequently insisted on speaking to him and meeting him in person. Imran reportedly felt the child was becoming a barrier in his relationship with Nazia. This frustration appears to have driven him to plan and execute the horrifying crime against the innocent child.
Following the incident, Imran returned home alone. When Amayra did not return, Nazia began searching for her in panic. Imran pretended to help her in the search and even accompanied her to the police station to file a missing complaint late Monday night. However, by Tuesday morning, a local fisherman discovered Amayra’s body floating near Sassoon Docks. The tragic discovery immediately escalated the case into a murder investigation, and the police began closely examining the family’s background and recent activities to trace the killer.
Under the guidance of Deputy Commissioner R. Ragasudha, Antop Hill police examined footage from 162 CCTV cameras to trace Amayra’s last known movements. The footage confirmed that she was last seen with Imran on the night she disappeared. The police then launched a manhunt for Imran, who had gone into hiding and was frequently changing locations to avoid arrest. Eventually, on Tuesday evening, police tracked him down and arrested him in Mumbai’s Lower Parel area. He later confessed to the crime during interrogation. The shocking murder of a child by her own step-father has left the city stunned and sparked public outrage.