NEW DELHI: Two four-year-old girls were criminally assaulted, allegedly by a neighbour at Tilak Nagar here on Monday evening. Four police teams are looking for 22-year-old Vikram. The victims, who are cousins, have been admitted to the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital, where the condition of one of them is stated to be serious.

According to the police, Vikram lured four children, three of them girls, to his house from a nearby park promising them chocolates and sweets. He took them to the first floor of the four-storey building and allegedly assaulted two of them. He made a vain attempt to criminally assault another girl also.

"On hearing their screams, a woman tenant on the third floor came down. Vikram told her that he had been giving tuition to the children and had slapped them. Not satisfied with the reply, the woman complained to Vikram's sister. She also got the same reply from Vikram, who refused to open the door. The two women did not pursue the matter. Vikram freed the children around 9 p.m.," said a police officer.

The father of one of the victims, who was searching for the children, saw the girls coming down the stairs. "The frocks of two girls were stained with blood. Vikram had poured buckets of water over them to remove the bloodstains. The girls later told us they were assaulted by three or four men," said the father.

Vikram, a tailor, allegedly threatened to set the children ablaze and dared the victims' families to report to the police. However, the police were informed and the girls taken to the hospital around 10 p.m.

Forensic reports awaited

Chief Medical Officer Dhananjaya Kumar said: "Both girls were operated upon. They bear serious injuries in their private parts and other parts of the body. One of them has been bitten in the cheek. The condition of the other girl is still serious, though she recognises her parents and talks passively. We are awaiting forensic reports."

The distraught father complained that the policemen turned up only an hour after the first phone call was made. "Had they come on time, the accused would not have escaped."

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