An eight-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two boys aged 10 and 12 in north-east Delhi’s Shastri Park area, police said on Tuesday. The boys have been apprehended and sent to a juvenile home.
A senior police officer said that on Monday around 2 p.m., the victim was playing outside her house when she was lured and raped by a 12-year-old boy of the same locality. It was later found that another boy, who was also present at the spot, also raped her, the officer added.
According to police, when the victim returned at around 4:30 p.m., she complained of pain in her stomach and private parts to her mother and subsequently told her about the incident. The mother then took her child to the police station.
The victim is undergoing treatment at GTB Hospital. A case has been registered under Sections 363 (kidnapping) 376AB (rape) of IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
The mother told The Hindu that on Monday afternoon, the girl returned home after playing and said that a boy in the neighbourhood had set her ablaze. “At first I didn't understand what she was saying. When I saw her clothes, I realised she had been raped. Later I understood that the boy had threatened to set her ablaze,” the mother said.
Police said that the child was counselled by Child Welfare Committee members and was sent for medical examination. A case has been registered under sections 363 (Kidnapping), 376AB (Rape) of Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The two boys have been apprehended and sent to juvenile home, police said.
The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Tuesday issued a notice to the police seeking details regarding the FIR and the accused persons nabbed in the matter so far, an official statement said.
The DCW said that it received the information through its Women Helpline Number 181 on Monday. “Due to her critical condition, the girl was immediately rushed to a government hospital where she went through a surgery. Her condition continues to remain critical as she is currently being treated in the ICU,” the statement by the DCW read.
The Delhi Police has been given 48 hours by the commission to produce a detailed action-taken report in the matter, the statement added.
DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal said, “The 8-year-old girl has been brutally raped and is in unimaginable pain as she is battling for her life in ICU due to severe damage caused to her private parts. The people gang raping an 8-year-old are not humans! Strongest punishment needs to be given to the guilty.”
