Women’s body chief visits rape victim, assures best medical aid

commission for women chairperson Suman Sharma on Sunday met a fouryear-old girl, who was sexually assaulted allegedly by her neighbour in Chittorgarh, at a local hospital and assured that the state government will ensure she gets the best medical treatment.

The women’s body chief also announced a compensation of ₹4 lakh for the survivor’s family members.

Sharma said she came to Udaipur on the instruction of chief minister Vasundhara Raje, who wanted her to meet the girl and her family members and assure them of full government support.

On March 8, the four-year-old girl was found with severe abdominal injuries in a bush, police said. Doctors said the girl was shifted to Udaipur’s MB Hospital on March 9 as her condition was critical.

Residents of Chittorgarh’s Bhadesar town observed a bandh on March 9 to protest the sexual assault of the minor girl.

The girl’s mother, who filed the first information report, named the accused in her complaint. Police arrested the accused on the same day and booked him under a number of sections of the Indian Penal Code and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The accused has been remanded in police custody.

The condition of the girl is improving, Sharma said. “She’s under observation and is recovering well,” she said after meeting the girl in the hospital.

“The minor’s mother went to attend a wedding in the village, leaving her with her grandmother. “The grandmother, however, thought that the girl had accompanied her mother and didn’t raise an alarm until the girl was found on the outskirts of the village,” a police official investigating the case, said.

The accused, a neighbour, targeted her when he found her alone on the road, the official said. A team of five doctors carried out a surgery but her uterus needs to be removed as it is badly damaged,” said Dr Vijay Joshi at the hospital.

UDAIPUR:Rajasthan