Two minor girls raped by strangers in Delhi, both suspects nabbed

In two unrelated cases reported from separate parts of the national capital Tuesday, two minor girls playing near their homes were raped allegedly by men not known

In two unrelated cases reported from separate parts of the national capital Tuesday, two minor girls playing near their homes were raped allegedly by men not known to them, the police said.

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One of these assaults happened in north Delhi’s Gulabi Bagh.A six-year-old girl was playing with other children in a public park, barely 300 metres from her home.

“Once all children left by 6pm, the suspect lured her to his room on the pretext of offering her toys,” said a senior police officer, who didn’t want to be named.

There, the man allegedly raped the child who later returned home injured and crying. When her aunt noticed blood on her clothes and asked her about it, she told her about the sexual assault.

“The aunt called the police after which the child was treated at a hospital and a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered,” said the officer.

“When we spoke to the child, she described the suspect as a man with a boil on his forehead. She also said his house was located near a temple,” said the officer.

Accompanied by the child, the police team began a search for the house and she soon spotted it. “The suspect began fleeing on seeing the police, but he was chased and caught. He has admitted to the crime,” said the officer.

The police identified him as 52-year-old Latesh, who earlier sold fruits but is currently unemployed.

The other crime was reported from Narela in outer north Delhi. The child was playing outside a temple while her mother went in to pray. “When the woman came out, she couldn’t find her daughter and began a search. She finally found the child bleeding some distance away,” said another police officer, also requesting anonymity.

The suspect remained unknown, but on Thursday, police nabbed a man living on the footpath in the neighbourhood for the crime. “He had found the girl playing alone, taken her to an isolated spot, and assaulted her. He then left her near the spot where she was playing,” said the officer. The police are yet to confirm whether the suspect is an adult or a minor.

Both children are out of danger and are being counselled by NGOs, said the police.

Last year, there were 7,575 incidents of crimes against children in Delhi, making it the city with the highest crime rate (35.3) against children, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Mumbai had ranked second, with 3,640 crimes against children and a rate of 17. The rate calculated as the number of crimes per lakh population. Delhi witnessed 1,662 cases under the POCSO Act and 948 of them were of rape. In addition, there were 586 cases of molestation as well.,the records show