A 35-year- old man, who allegedly raped a three-and-a-half-year-old girl and then dumped her in a deep pothole assuming that she was dead in North Delhi’s Sarai Rohilla, was arrested on Monday, police said on Tuesday.
“The accused first raped the child and then thinking that she was dead, he dumped her body inside a deep pothole along the Daya Basti railway tracks.” said a senior police official involved in the investigation.
Talking to The Pioneer, one of the police officers said, “The man, a labourer, was held within hours of the minor girl’s alleged abduction, based on the statement of the girl’s elder sister. The man was taken into custody late on Monday night in an inebriated state. It was only around 6 am on Tuesday that he became a little sober and admitted to committing the crime. Once he disclosed where he did the heinous act, we took him to the spot and found the girl covered in a pool of blood.”
A team of local police immediately rushed the minor girl to the Bara Hindu Rao hospital where she was stated to be in a critical condition.
The gruesome incident took place barely 5 kilometres from the spot where a four year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered by unidentified people in Northwest Delhi’s Keshavpuram area on Sunday Night. It was only through the help of technical surveillance that one of the accused was identified.
According to police, the girl was playing with her elder sibling near her house in Anand Parbat’s Daya Basti area. The incident was reported around 8.30pm on Monday when the victim’s parents had gone out of the house, leaving behind their five daughters.
Their neighbour said the accused approached the girls and offered the elder girl toffees. “By diverting her attention, he took the youngest child to an isolated spot where he sexually assaulted her,” said a senior police officer.
The officer said within a few hours, the girl lost consciousness. Assuming she has died, he picked up body and carried it to another isolated spot.
Delhi Commission for Women Chief Swati Maliwal visited the girl’s family at the hospital. Talking to the reporters she said, “On Monday, a four-year-old girl was brutally raped and murdered in Keshavpuram and today (Tuesday) another girl was raped. The man tried to kill her. There has been an increase in such cases. It is horrendous.”
Police said they have
registered a case under relevant sections of the IPC and POCSO (Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences) Act at the Sarai Rohilla police station. Further investigation is underway.