The CCTV footage helped in nabbing the accused of the brutal rape of an 8-year-old, who was abducted outside her home.
An eight-year-old girl was abducted from outside her home in outer Delhi and raped on Saturday. Brutalised, the girl underwent an emergency surgery and had severe injuries. CCTV footage helped the police identify the accused who has now been arrested and sent to judicial custody. It was the girl's presence of mind that saved her as she pretended to play dead and somehow managed to get home after the accused fled assuming she had died.
Last week, a 13-year-old girl had similarly been raped and beaten and left for dead near the railway tracks in Pul Prahladpur in south-east Delhi.
These two cases, in the same week, reflect a long and exhausting list of cases of child sexual abuse in the capital. As per Delhi Police data, between 2012 and 2015, 5217 cases were registered under the 'Protection of Children Sexual Offences (POCSO)' law that aims to address sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children.
But 3191 cases are pending in courts and investigation is pending in as many as 575 cases in three years.
331 new cases have been registered in just the month of April this year.
Child Rights activist Bharti Ali said the problem is multi-layered and plays out at many levels.
"Currently, Delhi has one court per district but that handles cases related to sexual abuse of children, but it also has to deal with all kinds of other cases too. So either we get more courts dealing with POCSO cases or have more exclusive cases just for these," she said.