5-year-old raped, found near park at Bhalswa

Deputy commissioner of police (outer-north) Devesh Kumar Mahla said that the PCR van staff took the girl to a hospital where doctors examined her and confirmed sexual assault

A 4-year-old girl was allegedly raped in outer-north Delhi’s Bhalswa Dairy area on Wednesday, police said, adding that the girl was found in a park by a police control room van staff on Thursday after the victim’s parents reported her missing.

A senior police officer aware of the case details said that the girl’s parents, both daily wage labourers, reported her missing around noon on Wednesday.

Deputy commissioner of police (outer-north) Devesh Kumar Mahla said that the PCR van staff took the girl to a hospital where doctors examined her and confirmed sexual assault. He said that a case under section 376 (Punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code and section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso) has been registered.

A senior police officer aware of the case details said that the girl’s parents, both daily wage labourers, reported her missing around 12 noon on Wednesday. “They said that she was playing with children from the neighbourhood. But did not return home till 8.30pm. They said that they went looking for her but when they could not find her, they approached the local ,” the officer said, adding that a case under section 363 (Punishment for kidnapping) of IPC was registered on the complaint given by the minor’s parents.

The officer added that police teams were formed to find the girl, and other police stations were also alerted about the case. A police control room van staff, however, found the girl around 6am on Thursday near a park. “The girl seemed normal. She was taken to a hospital for medical examination where the doctors said that she may have been sexually assaulted, but since the hospital did not have a gynaecologist, the girl was taken to another hospital where the doctor confirmed that she had been raped,” the officer said. He added that the girl is stable. .

According to police, the girl could not give details about who assaulted her and even her address. However, she was identified with the help of information disseminated by the local police, and her parents were informed. The police said that the members of an NGO were called to counsel the victim, according to the protocol followed in cases of rape.

Another investigator aware of the matter said that the investigators were gathering inputs from their informers and collecting CCTV footage from the cameras in the locality to identify and nab the suspects. “We have pressed 10 teams of special staff and the local police station to look into different things and trace the accused. With the leads we have, we are hopeful to nab the accuse in the next 24 hours,” the DCP said.