Two days after a 12-year-old girl from Delhi’s Paschim Vihar area was hospitalized with serious injuries battling for her life at a hospital after she was allegedly raped in her home, the Delhi police Thursday arrested one person in connection with the case. According to the police, the accused had entered the West Delhi residence of the minor with the intent to ransack but attacked the girl after she spotted him. The brutal incident took place on Tuesday when the minor girl was alone.
According to police, around 5.30 pm, neighbours spotted the girl in the balcony of her house, covered in blood and unable to stand. They immediately called the police, who rushed to the spot.
“She was found soaked in blood. Her body bore deep wounds and she was bleeding from private parts. Preliminary investigation suggests that the minor was brutally attacked with a sharp weapon on her head and back,” said a police officer to The New Indian Express.
The minor was admitted to the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital where a team of doctors referred her to AIIMS at midnight after evaluating her grievous injuries.
Police had lodged a case against the unknown under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and Section 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC. Footage of CCTVs in the West Delhi locality is being scanned for clues, police said.
The police initially suspected the incident took place in the afternoon and the accused was known to the victim. “We didn’t find any signs that someone broke in. Footage from a CCTV outside also showed no signs of the accused. The accused may be an acquaintance who went to the house after everyone left,” said the police.
The girl lives with her family in a one-bedroom apartment. Her father, mother and sister work at a nearby factory. She also helps her family with work. A senior police officer said, “Once the girl is stable, her statement will be recorded. Neighbours also didn’t see anyone entering or leaving the victim’s house at the time of the incident.”
The accused was identified on the basis of CCTV footage and he has previous criminal records, the police said. However, the identity of the accused has not yet been revealed. The survivor, meanwhile, has been operated upon and is stable, said a doctor at AIIMS, where she is undergoing treatment. Doctors have already performed two surgeries — one of the skull and the other in the lower abdomen, due to injuries to her private parts and she is now in the ICU.
However, chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Swati Maliwal, who visited the hospital and interacted with the doctors, said the condition of the girl is “quite serious”.
"The situation of the girl is very critical. She has bite marks all over her body apart from serious injuries on her stomach and multiple fractures," @DCWDelhi chief #SwatiMaliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) said after she met the victim's family at #AIIMS on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/AVHTIPim69
— IANS Tweets (@ians_india) August 6, 2020
“The girl has multiple head fractures and bite marks all over her body. She has been brutally assaulted to the extent that there are injury marks on every part of her body,” Maliwal said.
Speaking to NDTV, she condemned the attacks and said the law in place needs to be implemented and swiftness and certainty in punishment need to be ensured.
#NDTVExclusive | Delhi Women's Panel chief Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) on the rape of 12-year-old in Delhi pic.twitter.com/b6xUSXEtk4
— NDTV (@ndtv) August 6, 2020
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who also visited the hospital, said that the government will hire the best lawyers to bring the guilty to justice. “The government will provide a Rs 10-lakh compensation to the girl’s family,” Kejriwal added.
AIIMS में डॉक्टर्स और परिवार से मिलकर बच्ची का हाल जाना। डाक्टर्स ने बताया कि अगले 48 घंटे अहम है।
मैंने पुलिस कमिश्नर से भी बात की। इस जघन्य वारदात करने वाले अपराधियों को सख्त से सख्त सज़ा दिलवाएँगे।
परिवार को सरकार 10 लाख रुपए सहायता राशि दे रही हैं। pic.twitter.com/6VM00SsvSg
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 6, 2020
Before his visit to the hospital, Mr Kejriwal tweeted that the savage assault “has shaken me to the core. Such predators roaming free cannot be tolerated.”
एक 13 साल की बच्ची के साथ हैवानियत भरी वारदात की जानकारी ने आत्मा को अंदर तक झकझोर दिया है। ऐसे दरिंदे अपराधियों का खुला घूमना बर्दाश्त के बाहर है। पीड़ित बच्ची का हाल जानने के लिए मैं थोड़ी देर में AIIMS जा रहा हूँ।
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 6, 2020
East Delhi MP and BJP leader Gautam Gambhir demanded the death penalty for the culprit.
“The brutal rape of a 12-yr-old child is absolutely horrific! Those animals deserve nothing less than death. All of us are praying for her and I urge @DelhiPolice to bring the perpetrators to justice at the earliest,” he tweeted.
The brutal rape of a 12 yr old child is absolutely horrific! Those animals deserve nothing less than death. All of us are praying for her & I urge @DelhiPolice to bring the perpetrators to justice at the earliest.
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) August 6, 2020
Citizens have strongly condemned this brutal attack on the young girl and have taken to social media to air their grievances and concerns about women’s safety and address the recurring issue of rape.
The details of the horrific rape and torture of a 12 year old girl, as brutal as Nirbhaya, in the nation’s capital is a sickening reminder yet again how this is no country for women or children.
— Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) August 6, 2020
It is the need of the hour to ensure that the police investigate the matter thoroughly leaving no detail that could strengthen the case against the accused even further. A fast track court should be arranged and the accused should be punished in a way that serves as a deterrent to heinous crimes like this.
