Food vendor gags, attempts to rape one-year-old in outer Delhi, kin say he planned to kill her

The girl was rushed to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital even as Dharmendra was caught by the public and thrashed. He had to be hospitalised, police said. The girl, too, is admitted to hospital, but she is out of danger.

A man attempted to rape a one-year-old girl after locking her up in a godown in outer Delhi’s Aman Vihar Monday evening, police said. The girl’s father alleged that he found his toddler daughter gagged and with a rope around her neck, leading him to suspect that the man planned to kill the child after raping her.

The accused allegedly took away the girl on Monday evening after telling her relatives that he would buy her some sweets. (AP File)

SD Mishra, deputy commissioner of police (Rohini), confirmed that the girl was locked up in a room, but said it was unclear whether she was tied up.

The DCP said though the suspect had removed the girl’s clothes, she was rescued before he could cause any harm.

The suspect, identified as 22-year-old Dharmendra, has been arrested and booked for illegal confinement and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The officer said the Indian Penal Code section for rape wasn’t added because the “medical examination did not reveal any injury”.

The girl lives with her parents in Aman Vihar. Her father works in a factory. The suspect, Dharmendra, was a frequent visitor to the girl’s house and was known to her family. He works as a helper of a vendor who sells chhole-bhature, the DCP said.

Dharmendra allegedly took away the girl on Monday evening after telling her relatives that he would buy her some sweets.

“When he didn’t return with my daughter even after 10 minutes, I looked around for them but couldn’t find them,” the girl’s father said.

“We visited a godown where the man lives, but found it locked from outside. We then went to the market to see if he was at work, but couldn’t find him. We visited the godown again and, this time, it was locked from inside,” the father said.

The father with the help of others broke opened the door. “Inside, my daughter was found gagged and tied up. The man had tried to hide her under a pile of clothes. She was in a bad shape,” the father said.

The girl was rushed to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital even as Dharmendra was caught by the public and thrashed. He had to be hospitalised, police said. The girl, too, is admitted to hospital, but she is out of danger.