More shame: 3-year-old girl raped in playschool

Within hours after the gruesome gangrape of a 23-year-old came to light, a three-and-a-half-year-old girl was drugged and raped inside the bathroom of a playschool, Karn Pratap Singh reports. School of horror

Within hours after the gruesome gangrape of a 23-year-old came to light, a three-and-a-half-year-old girl was drugged and raped inside the bathroom of a playschool. The horrific crime was committed by the playschool owner’s husband.

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The shocking incident took place on Monday morning in southwest Delhi’s Vashisht Park area. The traumatized girl has told a city court that two-three more girls were abused along with her.

The police have arrested the accused, Pramod Malik, who holds a senior rank in an autonomous research institute.

The minor girl has gone into a state of shock after the incident.

"My daughter told the police and the magistrate that Malik drugged and raped her friends as well in a bathroom on Monday morning," said the mother of the girl outside Nirmal Chhaya observation home, where the victim is being given counseling to help her overcome the trauma.

The girl had been attending Pathshala play school -- located around hundred meters away from their house -- for the last one-and-a-half years.

The girl’s grandmother said the girl looked “sad and drowsy” when she returned from the playschool on Monday.

“She did not talk much with us and slept for the entire day. In the evening, she started vomiting. We rushed her to a nearby clinic but the doctor asked us to take her to a police station, saying it was a police case. I got worried and asked her if anything wrong had happened with her. She complained about pain in her private parts and told us that Malik had forced her to consume a tablet,” the girl’s grandmother said in a choking voice.

"We took her to the Sagarpur police station. Her medical examination confirmed sexual abuse,” she said.

The minor was later taken to the station to identify the accused and started “crying and screaming” the moment she saw Malik, her grandmother said.

The incident is among the eight cases of rape reported in the city between Sunday and Thursday. The other cases were reported from Sonia Vihar, New Friends Colony, Kalkaji, Turkman Gate, New Ashok Nagar, among other areas.