A nine-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 69-year-old preacher at a madrasa in Outer Delhi's Narela area. Police on Wednesday said the accused was arrested on Tuesday evening. On the other hand, the girl is undergoing treatment at the Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital and is stated to be in a critical condition. The aunt of the minor girl told The Pioneer that the child was assaulted on Sunday evening but since the preacher had threatened the child that he will harm her parents, the minor girl did not disclose her ordeal until Tuesday afternoon.
The family of the nine-year-old girl is in a state of shock. “We will not send the child to a madrasa ever again,” said the girl's father. Born to a mentally unstable mother and a father, who works as a sanitation worker, the girl opened up about the ordeal to a neighbourhood woman after the girl did not stop bleeding from her private parts for three days.
On Tuesday night, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal visited the victim in hospital where she is undergoing treatment.
Sitting outside the Emergency ward of the Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital on Wednesday, aunt of the nine year old girl told The Pioneer, “the incident took place on Sunday when the class three student had gone to attend classes at the madrasa near her house.
When she returned home, she did not say anything. It was only on Tuesday afternoon that she confided with a woman in the neighbourhood about the constant blood oozing out of her genitilia.
Sitting in the shade of a tree, father of the nine year old girl lamented for not taking enough care of his daughter. “My wife is mentally unstable and I work in MCD as a safai karamchari. For three days (from Sunday till Tuesday), my child was in pain and I could not understand her silence. I will never send my daughter to a madrasa ever again to learn Urdu. My daughter studies in a Government school near our home,” said the 40-year-old father.
Police said that they are still probing whether the child was raped within the Madrasa or outside its premises.
It was only when the child spoke to a woman in the neighbourhood that she came up to me and started saying how can we be so careless. I took the girl to a local doctor but before I could ask what precisely happened, he told me to refer to a big hospital. We took the child to Valmiki hospital where the lady doctor confirmed that the girl has been raped.
It was then that we informed the DCW and the local police,” added the maternal aunt of the nine year old girl.
Rajneesh Gupta, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) said, the police have registered a case under relevant sections of POCSO Act and IPC. The preacher, identified as Zakir Alam, used to teach in the Madrasa, has been arrested and the matter is further being probed,”
Reacting to the incident, Delhi Commission for Women chief, Swati Maliwal wrote on her Twitter, “Woke up to brutal rape of a 9 year old girl by a 70 year old man in a madrasa. The girl has bled substantially and sustained critical injuries. On my way to the hospital to see her. Sickening! (sic)”
Questioning the society and the system, Maliwal also stated, “Feeling sick to the core. Seeing child rape survivor is gut wrenching. Her eyes, her pain, her trauma is inexpressible. 9 year old rape survivor has suffered severe injuries. Who is responsibleIJ Both system and society —for its their deafening silence which ensures status quo.”