Mumbai:
The Kurla suburb of Mumbai has been rocked by a series of child murders since February. After three young girls were raped and killed in a slum here, it's not just the slum residents who are on edge but also residents from other regions across the suburb.
Three-year-old Mudra leaves for school under the watchful eyes of her father.
Girish Tandel who is a Port Trust Employee has been dropping his daughter to school himself for the past one week. He no longer leaves the maid to do it.
Though his apartment complex is some distance from the Ali Dada estate slum, where 9-year-old Nusrat Sheikh's decomposed body was recovered on Sunday, yet the news of a killer on the prowl has shaken him and the other residents of his complex alike.
"The police were lax initially but now they are everywhere, in uniform and in plain clothes. But it is also true that the case is still not solved," said a disturbed Girish.
"Earlier we used to send the children to school with neighbours, but now we go ourselves. We cannot trust anybody," added Parveen Sheikh, another resident.
Three young girls below the age of 10 have been raped and killed in the slum since February.
Even as the police have started patrolling the slum, nearby buildings are taking their own precautions. The rules are clear. No entry to strangers in the compound. No playing out of the building premises and no going out after dark.
It's not just parents of young children who are worried, even college students are being careful.
"We don't go out after 8 pm. If we have to go we go in a group," said Rutuja Hirlekar, a student.
All the leads the police explored so far have yielded no results but till the killer is nabbed there's unlikely to be any let up in the tension in these areas.