19-year-old man rapes toddler in Madhya Pradesh

When the mother returned, her daughter was writhing in pain and there were bloodstains on her clothes while her son was in a state of shock

A one-and-a-half-year-old girl was battling for her life at a hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district on Monday after a distant relative visiting them raped her in front of her five-year-old brother on Sunday when their parents were away for work, a police officer said.

Representational image.

“The girl was admitted to a district hospital where her condition is stated to be serious,” said Damoh’s additional police superintendent, Shivkumar Singh. “... [the accused] is a distant relative of the victim’s father.”

Singh said the accused had come to visit the family on Saturday night. “...[He] raped her as the mother of the victim had gone to a market and father had gone to a factory. When the mother returned after 15 minutes, her daughter was writhing in pain and there were bloodstains on her clothes while her son was in a state of shock,” said Singh. “The son told his mother that...[the accused] hurt her. The victim’s mother informed her husband and took the girl to a nearby hospital where the doctor confirmed the rape and referred her to the district hospital.”

The 19-year-old accused was arrested on Sunday and was booked under the Indian Penal Code’s Section 376 (rape) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Police said the accused has confessed to raping the girl.