35-year-old man held for raping, torturing minor girl with iron rod in Gujarat
The accused, father of three children, allegedly took the girl to a nearby water tank, gagged her, and attempted to rape her on December 4
Ahmedabad: A 35-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping and torturing a seven-year-old girl with an iron rod in a village of Gujarat’s Rajkot district on December 4, police said.
Ramsingh Tejsingh, a resident of Alirajpur in Madhya Pradesh, had worked in the Rajkot area as a farm labourer for the past couple of years.
The girl was accompanying her parents, who had migrated from Gujarat’s Dahod and worked as labourers, to the farm field.
The accused, father of three children, allegedly took the girl to a nearby water tank, gagged her, and attempted to rape her around 11am on December 4. He tortured her with a one-foot iron rod when he failed to rape her, according to police officers.
“The girl’s parents found her bleeding and took her to a hospital. She was transferred to the government children’s hospital in Rajkot where she remains under treatment,” inspector general (IG) of Rajkot Range Ashok Yadav said.
Superintendent of police (SP) of Rajkot (rural) Vijaysinh Gurjar said that the hospital alerted the police.
Based on the complaint lodged by the minor’s father, police registered a First Information Report (FIR) on December 8 under relevant section of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.
Police formed ten teams, and CCTV footage from nearby villages and locations was collected and analysed. A list of 140 suspects was drawn up. All were called for questioning to verify their alibis. Police narrowed the list to ten individuals.
“Officers showed photographs to the victim with the help of a child counsellor, female police officers, and doctors. The girl identified one person. Police detained and questioned him,” Gurjar said.
“The man confessed to the crime during questioning. He attempted to rape the girl near a water tank around 11 am on December 4. When he failed, he got enraged and attacked the girl with an iron rod,” Gurjar added.
