Raped by over 10 men every day for 6 months, 18-year-old critical

Trafficked from West Bengal, girl says she was taken to different cities, also pushed into prostitution

In a grim reminder of Falak and Nirbhaya case, an 18-year-old girl is battling for life after being sexually assaulted for months.

The girl was trafficked from West Bengal, and is currently in a critical condition after being sexually assaulted for months. (Representative Picture)

The girl, who is unable to sit, talk or walk, is admitted at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital with severe injuries all over the body.

The girl, who was trafficked from West Bengal a year ago, claimed she was sexually assaulted over 10 times in a day by different men over the last six months. According to doctors, the cause of her deteriorating health could be repeated sexual assault.

“I have been taken to Rishikesh, Haridwar, Manali, Mangalore and many other locations and kept at someone’s place where people used to come and rape me. This happened for over six months and traffickers used to beat me up on refusal,” the girl told HT. The victim has infections all over her legs and doctors had to remove pus to prevent the infection from spreading.

“The likely cause of infection is repeated sexual assault. She was brought here by a man who claimed to be her relative. But after her condition deteriorated, the person also disappeared,” said a doctor at the hospital. With no one to look after, the girl is lying at the mercy of relatives of other patients, who are looking after her for now.

Shakti Vahini, an NGO, received the information in April about the girl’s trafficking and was trying to locate her since then. It was on Monday that they were told by the Kolkata Police that the girl is admitted at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.

“The girl has been diagnosed with Septic Arthritis, and displayed visible lacerations in and around her mouth consistent with gag wounds. She lies in a critical state, unable to make use of her lower limbs. The victim has reported about sexual abuse and multiple sexual assaults over the last six months. She has also reported about her being used in prostitution rackets,” said Ravi Kant, president of Shakti Vahini.

Kant has demanded that the Delhi Commission for Women should launch an inquiry into the hospital records, to ascertain and determine the identity of whoever brought her to the hospital and provide for a caretaker to attend to her.

This is the second such case in as many days as on Monday too, a shocking tale of trafficking and sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl, who was raped by 20 men in a day, had come to light.