The rape of a four-year-old girl — found after a 16-hour-search, bleeding and dumped in bushes — in Khandwa district is the third case of a minor being raped in Madhya Pradesh in less than a week.
The four-year-old was found on Tuesday and police arrested a 22-year-old restaurant worker for the crime. He'd got the child to trust him by showing her videos on his mobile phone, police said.
The child has been referred to a hospital to Indore as she has serious injuries.
This came three days after seven men allegedly gangraped a 15-year-old girl in Guna. Also in Guna, a 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 20-year-old man.
In the Khandwa case, the girl was visiting her relatives, who are farm workers and live in a hut in a field, for Diwali. At a dhaba next to the field, a waiter, Raj Kumar, entertained her with mobile phone videos over the past few days. She was reported missing Monday morning, after her relatives had already searched for her for some time.
Area police chief Vivek Singh deployed 200 personnel to find her. Drains and farm barns were searched with no success.
Police by then had zeroed down on the suspect, who was detained after tracing his mobile phone signal.
He cracked under interrogation and, in the early hours of Tuesday, led the search team to a place less than two kilometres from the girl's relatives' house. He said another man and he had raped her and dumped her in the bushes, where she was found writhing in pain.
She was taken to the Khandwa district hospital but then referred to Indore as she was in a critical condition.
Police said Raj Kumar has been arrested after registering a case of rape under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
“The accused initially kept misleading us. He has named another person too. We are verifying the information,” said Vivek Singh, Superintendent of Police.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is monitoring the action, officials said. Upon his directions, Indore Divisional Commissioner and Inspector General of Police visited the private hospital where the girl is undergoing treatment, and spoke to the family members and doctors.
"All this is a result of perverted mindsets, against which we need social awareness," said Home Minister Narottam Mishra, when asked about the recent cases. He added, "Relatives, neighbours and other such people are involved in many of the crimes against women. Society needs to use measures like boycotts, and at large we need more awareness. On the legal front, our government has already made a provision for the death penalty for rapists.."
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