Cops try to identify culprit in rape of 3-year-old girl

Crime branch officials have started parallel investigation into the rape of a three-year-old girl by an unknown person near Dharavi. They have rounded up a few witnesses and are looking at CCTV footages to identify the culprit.

The three-year-old girl, who resides near Dharavi, was recently found on the road crying after an unknown person allegedly abducted and raped her. According to officials, the girl had to undergo a surgery in Sion hospital after the brutal attack on her. The case was transferred from the Dharavi police station to Shivaji Nagar police station as the girl was found in the latter’s jurisdiction. The special women’s cell of crime branch is also working on the case simultaneously.

According to police officials, the girl’s parents say they had a fight and the girl’s mother went to her maternal house without taking her daughter along with her.

The girl’s father thought his wife took the daughter with her, while her mother thought she was with her father.

“It is clear negligence on the parents’ part. The girl was playing outside in the area in the evening, but after her other friends went home the girl didn’t come back home. The accused person must be someone from her area as he had kidnapped the girl from the area and then left her near a public toilet,” said a police official.

Crime branch officials said, “We have collected CCTV footage from all over the area and nearby areas where the girl was found. We are getting details whether the parents had some rivalry or some known person might have abducted the girl. The girl is going thorough treatment. After she gets stable we will ask her about the person who abducted her. We have called most of the beggars in the same area and interrogated them. Soon we will get the lead.” The unidentified accused has been charged under Sections 363 (kidnap) and 376 (rape) of the IPC. The accused is also booked under the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act 2012, sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault), 8 (sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment of the child).