Nation must come together to protect children, Rahul says
Congress president reacts to Mandsaur gang-rape of 8-year-old
Congress president Rahul Gandhi yesterday voiced his angst against the brutal gang-rape and assault of an eight-year-old schoolgirl in Madhya Pradesh and said the nation must come together to protect children.
“In Mandsaur, an eightyear-old girl was kidnapped and gang-raped, and is battling for her life. The brutality this young child was subjected to sickens me. As a nation, we must come together to protect our children and bring the attackers to speedy justice,” Gandhi tweeted.
The child was abducted while she was waiting for her father outside her school on Tuesday.
She was gang-raped, her throat slit and left to die. A day later, the Madhya Pradesh police arrested Irfan, alias Bhaiyu, 20, a labourer, on the basis of CCTV footage.
On Friday, the police made another arrest of a construction worker, Asif, 24, after Irfan named him as an accomplice. Both were booked under relevant sections of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act even as the probe continued.
Doctors treating the victim in Indore said she was “severely assaulted”. She has started showing signs of improvement, they said, adding that the minor might be out of danger physically but her mental trauma would last longer.
Several political leaders and eminent personalities have reacted to the horrific incident on the social media.
Veteran actress Shabana Azmi said: “It’s blood curdling. What’s happening to this world? Culprits must be brought to book and given the strictest punishment.”
AICC general secretary and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot condemned the incident and said: “Such a horrific crime is a shame on humanity. We all are with the victim and her family members.”
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday condemned the incident and said that rapists were a “burden on the earth” and his government will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the accused were hanged.