The child had disappeared around 7.40 pm on Saturday from outside her house in Jaipur's middle-class Transport Nagar neighbourhood, while she was playing. (Representational image)
Five days after a three-and-a-half year-old girl was kidnapped and raped, the Jaipur police have arrested a 38-year-old man.
The child had disappeared around 7.40 pm on Saturday from outside her house in Jaipur's middle-class Transport Nagar neighbourhood, while she was playing.
Following a manhunt, the child was found the same night around 13 km away, standing alone on the Agra-Jaipur highway.
The police patrol rushed the girl to the children's JK Lon hospital, where she was underwent a 3-hour operation. Senior ministers and the chairperson of the women's commission also visited the child in hospital following instructions from the Chief Minister.
Jaipur Police commissioner Sanjay Agarwal said the child and her family were able to give them valuable clues that led to the arrest.
"The girl told us she was taken away by an 'auto waale uncle'," said Sanjay Agarwal, "We launched a manhunt that covered 20 km."
Crucial CCTV footage helped the police in the final leg -- footage from a shop in Kanota around 10 km from the girl's house, in which a man could be seen dragging the child under a bridge.
The man, the officer said, was identified as Raju. He is a drug addict and used to drive a hired auto sometimes. He is married and has three children, he added.