A three-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and then sexually assaulted by a 22-year-old man at his house in central Delhi’s Anand Parbat on Wednesday morning.
The victim had to undergo multiple surgeries since the incident and is currently hospitalised at Kalavati Children’s house. Hospital authorities said she was admitted in a critical state but her condition had improved by Thursday evening. The accused, identified as Vijay, has been arrested.
Neighbour a colleague
A daily wage labourer, Vijay lived some distance away from the victim’s house, a single room accommodation on the second floor of her building. One of Vijay’s colleagues, a minor boy, lives next door to the victim and the accused would often visit him, the police said.
The police said they suspect that he was headed to his friend’s house when he saw the child downstairs and took her along. Another neighbour of the victim’s family, who requested anonymity, said it was around 8 a.m. when the five-year-old elder sister of the victim left home to buy something from a nearby shop.
No alarms raised
“The younger one also tried to follow her sister downstairs but fell behind. The child then started playing outside and was sitting on the stairs of the house when we last saw her,” she said. She added the accused must have taken the child after all neighbours went indoors.
The police said the accused then took the girl to his one room rented house, which lies on a hilly terrain and at least a kilometre from her house and had crossed many narrow and crowded alleys on his way home without alarming anyone. At his house, he allegedly sexually assaulted the girl and hearing her scream, neighbours came running in. They beat up Vijay and handed him over to the police.
Meanwhile, when her elder sister returned, the parents asked about the victim’s whereabouts, which she was not aware of. After an initial search around their own building did not yield any result, the minor friend of the accused volunteered to help and expressed suspicion of Vijay having taken the girl away.
Complained of pain
Talking to The Hindu , the boy claimed he was not aware of Vijay’s intentions and had not met him on the day of the incident. “With her parents, I visited his house where we found out about the girl,” the boy said. The victim was rushed to a hospital and discharged subsequently. “However, on Thursday morning, she complained of pain and was taken to Kalavati Children’s Hospital where she underwent multiple surgeries,” said the neighbour. The matter was reported to the police, who registered a case of rape and under sections of POCSO Act.
