3-year-old raped in Panipat, suspect held

PANIPAT: A three-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a youth in Sharda Colony of Panipat town. The accused, Anil Kumar (19), a migrant labourer who was under the influence of alcohol when he committed the crime, has been arrested.

The victim, who had her private parts bleeding, was admitted to the Panipat civil hospital from where she was referred to BPS Medical College for Women in Sonepat’s Khanpur Kalan. Her condition was said to be stable.

The police said Anil, who works in a local textile factory, lured the victim with the help of his friend Dharmendra, on pretext of buying her some sweets. The police said he took her to his room and raped the girl.

The victim’s father is also a labourer in a local factory, it was learnt. The victim’s family told the police that they noticed the girl crying. They took her to the hospital where doctors confirmed rape. The family informed the police who rounded up the accused and started interrogation.

The other accused, Dharmendra, who helped Anil in luring the girl, was not arrested yet, the police said.

Panipat Quila station house officer (SHO) Suresh Pal said a case has been registered under various sections of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against the two. Panipat superintendent to police Rahul Sharma did not respond to phone calls and text messages.

Such incidents have become commonplace in the industrial town of Panipat which is home to thousands of migrant labourers.

In September, a four-year-old girl was raped and killed by a 24-year-old migrant labourer Sukhraj Singh, whom the police arrested from Kaushanbi of Uttar Pradesh.

The same month, the police arrested 22-year-old sweeper Tarun Kumar for molesting a nine-year-old girl student in a toilet of The Millennium School, Panipat.

MEDICAL EXAMINATION OF VICTIM CONFIRMS RAPE; ACCUSED, A MIGRANT LABOURER, WAS INEBRIATED WHEN HE COMMITTED CRIME