Homeless man rapes 6-year-old girl in Delhi’s Janakpuri, arrested

The suspect, 22-year-old Arun Kumar, was allegedly caught while committing the crime. The DCP said that he is a vagabond hailing from Begusarai in Bihar and has no home in the national capital.

A six-year-old girl was raped by a homeless person in west Delhi’s Janakpuri in the early hours of Monday, police said. The accused picked up the girl from a shanty where she was sleeping, the police said.

A six-year-old girl was raped by a homeless person in west Delhi’s Janakpuri in the early hours of Monday, police said. (Representative Image/HT File Photo)

Police said the girl was severely injured and had to be admitted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital. She continues to remain under treatment at the hospital, but Monika Bhardwaj, deputy commissioner of police (west), said the injuries “are not life-threatening”.

The suspect, 22-year-old Arun Kumar, was allegedly caught while committing the crime. The DCP said that he is a vagabond hailing from Begusarai in Bihar and has no home in the national capital.

“We have checked his records in Delhi and his hometown. There are no criminal cases against him,” said the DCP, adding that the investigators continue to probe if he targeted any more children in cases that may not have been reported to the police.

Kumar has been booked for rape and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The girl lives with her parents and siblings in a jhuggi set up on a footpath in Janakpuri’s C block. Her parents do odd jobs for a living.

The crime took place around 4am on Monday while the girl was sleeping next to her parents. “Arun Kumar picked up the child and took her to a dirty, isolated spot some distance away from the shanty,” said the police officer.

The suspect allegedly muffled the girl using his hands and raped her.

In the meantime, the girl’s parents awoke to realise she was missing. They alerted some auto drivers who park their three-wheelers nearby and began a search operation. They searched the nearby drains and other areas before one of the drivers heard the girl’s muffled cries.

“Arun Kumar was caught red-handed. The people nabbed him and rescued the child from him,” said the DCP.

A police patrolling team spotted a crowd and checked to realise that the public had caught a rape suspect.

“The police team arrested the suspect and rushed the girl to DDU Hospital,” said the DCP.

The suspect was not known to the girl or her family, making this crime among a small percentage of rapes in Delhi which are committed by strangers.