11-month-old raped for two hours in Delhi

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An 11-month-old baby was allegedly abducted and raped by her neighbour in west Delhi’s Vikaspuri late on Friday. The 36-year-old accused worked as a construction labourer at the office-cum-residential complex of Delhi Police’s 3rd battalion.

According to the police, the infant was sleeping with her mother at a make-shift shelter within the police housing complex. Around 10pm, the accused, finding her mother asleep, spirited away the child to a nearby jungle. The police were informed when the mother found the infant missing around 11pm.

Senior officers said that the survivor was found in an unconscious state by a police team from Vikaspuri police station.

The cops informed her parents and took her to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and had her admitted to the intensive care unit there. “The girl was bleeding profusely. Doctors at the hospital have said that her condition is serious,” said a senior officer. At the spot where the police located the child, they also found a cell phone. “The police team was helped by the recovery of the mobile phone to track the location of the accused,” said the officer. “We traced him to the labour camp.”

The accused initially denied being involved in the crime, but on sustained questioning admitted to the rape. Police said that he was a resident of Bihar and travelled to Delhi periodically to work as a construction labourer. “The survivor’s father and the accused were both employed by the same contractor to construct a boundary wall around the police office,” said the officer.

Police said the accused lived with the other labourers engaged in building the boundary wall. In his confession, he told police that he picked up the infant around 10pm. “He said he then took her to the bushes beside a drain and raped her for nearly two hours,” the officer said. Fearing that she had died when she became unconscious, he left the child in the bushes and fled to his shack.

When the girl’s mother raised an alarm, he made sure to be noticed as one of the men helping the police and family to search for the infant.

Pushpendra Kumar, DCP (West) said that a FIR for rape under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the POCSO Act had been registered and the accused sent to Tihar Jail.

Police have also recorded the statements of the child’s parents. “I was horrified to see my daughter’s condition,” said the shocked father. “Her clothes were torn and she had nail marks all over the body. The severe injuries might have a lifelong impact on her health.”

Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal, visited the hospital and met the child’s family.

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