Devendra Kumar
Detectives are currently searching for Abdul Ezedi, a 35-year-old asylum seeker, in south London after he was accused of launching a brutal alkali attack on a 31-year-old mother and her two daughters in Clapham. The mother remains “very poorly” and sedated in hospital, with injuries that are considered “life-changing”. Ezedi, who claimed to have converted to Christianity and was granted asylum in the UK, has significant injuries to the right side of his face and is believed to have fled the scene in a vehicle, eventually boarding a tube at Clapham South Underground station.
Police have released footage of empty containers with corrosive warnings being found by officers during a raid on an address in Newcastle, and forensic tests are underway to determine if these containers held the substance used in the attack. Ezedi is thought to have boarded the underground with the hopes of evading capture, and his movements are now being closely monitored by police.
Commander Jon Savell is urging Ezedi to surrender, stating that he needs medical help and that his injuries are significant. Savell has extended his gratitude to the public for their cooperation, citing the dozens of calls received with information and possible sightings. As the manhunt continues, police are working around the clock to establish Ezedi’s movements and locate him.
The case has raised significant questions about how Ezedi was able to stay in the country despite being convicted of a sex offense in 2018. He was granted asylum after claiming to have converted to Christianity, but checks have revealed that he did not receive a Catholic baptism and was never given a reference by a Christian minister. The British prime minister’s spokesman has stated that foreign criminals should not be able to stay in the UK.
Ezedi’s brother Hassan has told The Sun newspaper that he would hand his brother in if he knew where he was. The wanted man left Newcastle in the early hours of Wednesday morning and traveled south to London, where he allegedly attacked the family and tried to flee the scene.