Police will not say whether any footage was captured by the cameras. Sanaya Sahib's body was found in Darebin Creek last year. "As it is an ongoing investigation we are not in a position to provide any comment," a Victoria Police spokeswoman said. Police have not released any further information regarding the case on Monday. Sanaya's mother, Sofina Nikat, said she was knocked over and her daughter snatched from a blue and yellow pram in Olympic Park on Saturday about 10am.

She said a man of African appearance followed her as she pushed Sanaya along the bike path behind Olympic Park Reserve and the stadium of Heidelberg United Soccer Club. One of four CCTV cameras that line the Darebin Creek. Credit:Liam Mannix She said he then snatched the little girl from the pram after violently knocking her to the ground. The toddler's body was found in Darebin Creek, about 200 metres from the Northland shopping centre and less than two kilometres from her uncle's house, where the the family had been staying. Sanaya and her mother, Sonia Nikat, were staying at Ms Nikat's brother's home in West Heidelberg. Credit:Simon O'Dwyer

On Sunday night, forensic investigators and homicide detectives spent four hours in the house. Ms Nikat was escorted for welfare reasons from the home by police. It is not known if she has yet formally spoken with police about what happened to her daughter. Tributes are left close to where the body of Sanaya Shaib was found. Credit:Jason South 'Not an obvious place to hide a body' Shocked locals on Monday said Darebin Creek was not an "obvious place to hide a body".

Police tape marks off the stretch of Darebin Creek where Sanaya Shaib's body was found. Credit:Liam Mannix The creek runs fast and deep up near Perth Street, where Ms Nikat said she strapped Sanaya into her stroller. Rubbish sits in big, untended piles on the lane that runs behind the tiny house; busted white goods, women's clothes, a big bag of dog excrement. Police drive past the house in Perth Street, West Heidelberg where Sanaya Shaib had been living. Credit:Jason South Further down, the creek slows and grows reedy.

This is where Sanaya's body was found, early in the morning, more than 12 hours after her mother said she was snatched from her arms. Tributes for Sanaya are lined up along a fence. Credit:Liam Mannix The creek is wide open and well lit. The banks are marshy and the grass is long but not overgrown. A man looks on to the street full of waiting media from his Heidelberg West home. Credit:Jason South

Locals cannot understand how Sanaya's body could have stayed hidden there for so long. Less than 200 metres from Northland shopping centre, it does not seem a good place to commit a crime. Four CCTV cameras silently watch the creek and the nearby footbridge — the only place where the creek can be forded. The creek runs along one side and the other is fenced by high concrete walls. There are only a couple of ways in and out. "You walk along here and there's no place to go. It's not an obvious place to hide a body," one man says as he surveys the crime scene, parts of which are still marked off in blue tape.

A woman and a man come down to lay a small tribute. She walks her huge dog through Olympic park and along the creek most days. She was here on Saturday at 10am, when the crime was supposed to have been committed. She can't understand how she saw nothing.



"There's loads of people here at 10am," the man says.



"That's a sports oval, it's full of footballers or soccer players," he says, gesturing at the nearby park. "And this is a bike path, it's full of cyclists every minute."



"A few years ago it wasn't quite as safe. It used to be a super cheap place to buy, but it's not any more. I don't understand, it doesn't make sense for me." 'A cruel reality of life' Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said police officers would remain in the Heidelberg area until the end of the week to reassure community members that their children were being watched over. "We have got more police out there and around parks … and we want to reassure the community that we're taking every step we can to keep them safe," he told 3AW on Monday.

Mr Leane said he was also concerned about the impact such a tragedy could have on his own "people", such as police officers, ambulance staff and SES crews. "It's unfortunately a cruel reality of life," he said. "It really brings it home when a toddler, a 15-month-old, can lose her life." 'Sanaya will be missed by us all' The toddler's family were too devastated to talk to reporters on Sunday, with Sanaya's grandfather Sheraz Shaib thanking the people who found Sanaya's body and reading out a statement.



"Sanaya will be missed by us all. She was a beautiful child who has been taken from us too soon," he said.

Four people from a family motivated by memories of their own child going missing had joined the search and made the grim discovery. At 4pm on Sunday, homicide detectives and a team of forensic investigators entered Ms Nikat's uncle house, where, according to a neighbour, Ms Nikat and her daughter had been staying for the past few days. Detectives also inspected the rubbish bins, which were later taken to the rear of the property. Ms Nikat regularly visited the house following the acrimonious breakdown of the relationship with Sanaya's father. Forensic investigators and detectives did not leave the property until shortly before 8pm. A detective left the house carrying a paper bag labelled "disposable nappies" in black marker, while another detective was seen carrying two large brown paper bags of evidence. Man hunt

Police earlier on Sunday had said they were searching for the man who Ms Nikat said abducted Sanaya. He was described as aged between 20 and 30 years and about 1.8 metres tall. He was wearing black pants with a black hooded top with a zipper but no shoes and he smelled of alcohol. Homicide Detective Senior Sergeant Stuart Bailey said every available resource has been put into the case. "We think it's completely random at this point in time," he said on Sunday. "We have no other suspects at this stage other than the person who is alleged to have abducted the child." Police were awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination.

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