A seven-year-old mentally deranged girl was allegedly sexually assaulted and abandoned at an isolated stretch near her house in Northwest Delhi's Swaroop Nagar area on Tuesday evening.
Confirming the incident, Aslam Khan, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Northwest said, "We received a PCR call about the incident at around 8pm. The accused, identified as 19-year-old Sonu was arrested from the Swaroop Nagar bus stand. He was trying to flee when he was caught by the local staff."
Based on statement given by one of the eyewitness, a local resident, the accused was identified and later arrested.
The officer said that the incident took place in the evening. "The minor girl was playing outside her house. The accused, drunk at the time of the incident, came and lured her. He then took her to a nearby toilet where he raped her and left her.
An hour later, when the seven year old girl did not return home, her anxious parents started looking for her. It was later that they found her bleeding profusely at the toilet.
The girl, who was battered, was first taken to the Babu Jag Jivan Ram hospital where her condition was stated to be critical. After which, she was referred to the Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital where she is undergoing treatment," said a senior police officer.
Khan said, "A case under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been registered at the Swaroop Nagar police station. we are verifying if the accused had any other previous involvement."
Delhi witnessed over 400 cases registered with Delhi Police under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act.
In the process of solving these cases, cops have also arrested several accused in these cases.
According to the Delhi Police data, till April 15 this year, 244 cases of rape with the POCSO Act have been registered with the Delhi Police. In 2017, the number of cases registered under POCSO with Delhi Police was 1,559. In 2016, the number was also over 1,500.