Man held from MP, 10 months after he skipped Ggm after raping 3-year-old girl

After allegedly sexually assaulting the toddler, the suspect boarded a bus to Delhi and from there he walked for 20 to 30 days to reach Damoh in Madhya Pradesh

A 36-year-old suspect was arrested from a remote village of Narsinghpur in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday for allegedly raping a three-year-old girl in Badshahpur area of Gurugram, said senior police officers, adding that the toddler was raped on January 12 this year, following which the suspect fled the city to evade arrest.

Investigators said Haryana Police had declared a reward of ₹5,000 on any information leading to his arrest and he was on the list of most wanted criminals in Gurugram. (Representational image)

Police said he was hiding in a village named Barmaan, located on the banks of the Narmada, almost 740km from Badshahpur.They said after allegedly sexually assaulting the toddler, the suspect boarded a bus to Delhi and from there he walked for 20 to 30 days to reach Damoh in Madhya Pradesh.

Investigators said Haryana Police had declared a reward of ₹5,000 on any information leading to his arrest and he was on the list of most wanted criminals in Gurugram.

Priyanshu Diwan, assistant commissioner of police (Badshahpur), said the toddler was alone at her residence when the suspect arrived at her home on January 12. “The suspect had good relations with the child’s father. However, he was not home that time. Later, the minor’s grandmother also left asking the suspect to take care of the child till she returned. But he ended up raping her at her and leaving her critically injured.

He said an FIR was registered against him under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act at Badshahpur police station on a complaint filed by the child’s grandmother.

Diwan said the suspect was fully aware that police would track him due to which he took out his SIM card and threw it from the bus somewhere near Dhaula Kuan while en route to Delhi.

“After reaching Delhi, he realised that we may still track him if he took a bus or train to reach his native village in Bagha, Damoh, where his grandmother lived. So, he started walking, taking shelter in temples and eating whatever devotees gave him. He worked in the fields of different villages along the way to earn money and finally reached Damoh. It must have taken him almost 20-30 days to reach there. He failed to tell us the exact date,” Diwan said.

Investigators said after staying in Damoh for sometime, he fled to Narsinghpur. They said that he never used the phone, which he had with him at the time of the crime, to talk with anyone; he used it only to listen to songs. The phone was also recovered from his possession, police said.

Finally, using manual and technical surveillance, and after questioning numerous people who knew the suspect, police zeroed in on him in Barmaan, from where was arrested.

They said that the suspect earlier lived in Faridabad but there, he allegedly tried to murder his wife by pushing her from the second floor of the building where they lived on rent in early 2020. He was facing a trial in that matter, but kept skipping court appearances after getting bail in January 2022. He shifted to Gurugram hardly a month before committing the rape in January. Police said there were two cases of assault against the suspect registered in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh.