Man arrested on suspicion of murder of girl (8) in New Ross

James Cox

A man aged in his 30s has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the death of an eight-year-old girl in New Ross, Co Wexford.

The girl is believed to have been stabbed in an incident in a house on William Street, New Ross, after 11.30pm on Sunday night.

The girl has been named locally as as Malikika Al Katib.

The postmortem examination, which was conducted by State Pathologist Dr Sally Anne Collis, took place on Monday. the results of which will not be released for operational reasons.

A man, aged in his 30s, was released from hospital and arrested on suspicion of murder on Tuesday, gardaí confirmed.

A Garda spokesperson said: "He is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at a Garda Station in the Eastern Region.

"Investigating gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have any information on this fatal assault to come forward.

"Anyone with information is asked to contact New Ross Garda Station on 051 426 030, the Garda Confidential Line on (1800) 666 111 or any Garda Station.

"This investigation is ongoing."

Heartbreak in community

Imam Rashid Munir has spoken of the heartbreak in the Muslim community at the tragic death of eight-year-old Malika Al Kattib in New Ross.

“It is really heartbreaking thing for our community because I personally know that girl. She used to come to our Islamic Center in Waterford. A lovely child, a beautiful girl full of life, full of energy,” he told RTÉ radio’s News at One.

“Since this news broke, it’s heartbreaking. Obviously, it was very hard to believe that this incident had happened. And certainly I was speaking to the mother of the child, she's wounded, she’s injured. She's not in good shape at the moment.”

Malika had been like any eight year old, “she was very smiley. She had a lot of interest learning about Islam, learning about the religion. She wanted to be like a good part of society. She always wanted to be connected with something extraordinary. But this thing happened. So it's very heartbreaking.”

Imam Munir said that while it is Muslim tradition for a funeral to be held as quickly as possible, in the circumstances it was understandable that there would have to be a delay to allow for the postmortem and for Garda paper work to be completed.

It was the responsibility of the Muslim community “to give her a good funeral. According to the Sharia, we have to do it as early as possible. I was speaking to the authorities last night and the postmortem was not fully conducted till last night. We were expecting to get their report today and as soon as the body will be released and it will be handed over to us.”

As with Muslim rituals, Malika’s remains will be washed by women and her remains will be laid to rest in the Muslim graveyard which was given by Waterford City Council. “We will do it, hopefully today or the latest will be tomorrow.” - Additional reporting from Vivienne Clarke