A four-year-old girl was allegedly raped by unidentified accused in a slum dwelling in north west Delhi’s Keshav Puram area, police said on Saturday.
The girl was missing from her house since Friday evening. She was later found lying and crying in near a railway track by a passer-by, a senior police officer said.
The girl, a resident of JJ cluster in Keshav Puram area, was raped as she was bleeding profusely. She was rushed to Mahavir Hospital, from where she was referred to Safdarjung Hospital where she is currently undergoing treatment, the officer said.
“She is admitted in the High Dependency Unit. She is conscious and out of danger but still in pain,” medical superintendent of Safdarjung hospital, A K Rai, said.
“She was brought to our hospital at around 8 pm on Saturday night after being referred by Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital. She had an injury on her private parts and doctors operated on her last night,” he said.
The girl, whose father is a painter, was playing outside her house when she went missing. Her grandparents searched for her, but she could not be found, police said.
A case under relevant sections of IPC and POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Acts has been registered and a manhunt has been launched to arrest the accused, who is yet to be identified, he said.
There is an eatery in the slum where alcoholics and miscreants assembled late last night. It is suspected that the accused could be frequent visitors of those shops, a local youth working with an NGO said.
“We have zeroed in on some suspects and we are keeping a watch. Once the girl recovers, we will be able to get more clues about the accused,” the officer added.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal met the victim at the hospital.
“Visited the little girl, her condition can’t be described. Horrific. Her parents are extremely poor. When will this heinous crime stop in Delhi (sic),” Maliwal tweeted.
“Everyday we have a Nirbhaya in Delhi and Nirbhaya Fund is lying unused. Pathetic.
“In 2014, only 9 accused were convicted in Delhi in crime against women. Can you imagine! Tabhi to Delhi mei kisi ko darr nai hai (That’s why no one is scared in Delhi),” she tweeted.
