Young girl 'raped and left for dead' in Indian village

Case comes as Narendra Modi calls for child rapists to face death penalty

Jon Sharman
Tuesday 24 April 2018 10:31 BST
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Asifa Bano: Protestors gather in New Delhi following the rape and murder of an 8-year-old Muslim girl

A six-year-old girl was reportedly raped, strangled and left for dead in an Indian village.

The girl was attacked in Cuttack district of Odisha state, and is in “very critical” condition in hospital with multiple serious injuries, local media reports quoted doctors as saying.

She had gone to buy biscuits on Saturday and, when she did not return, her family and fellow villagers in Jagannathpur launched a search.

“After a frantic search for over an hour the girl was traced lying unconscious and without clothes on the school campus with blood oozing from her head and mouth,” police said on Sunday.

The Times of India cited PK Jena, a Salepur subdivisional police officer, as saying the girl was being treated in SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

Her grandfather filed a criminal complaint, according to the Deccan Chronicle, and a 25-year-old man from the same village was reportedly arrested on Monday.

A team of 13 doctors is said to be caring for the girl after she suffered serious injuries to the head, face, neck and chest in addition to the rape.

The case comes days after Indian prime minister Narendra Modi issued an ordinance introducing the death penalty for child rapists. It has been passed to the president, Ram Nath Kovind, for approval after a series of high-profile attacks.

To become law, it will need to go before parliament within six months – but the punishment will be enforceable in the meantime.

Violent crime against women has been rising in India despite tough legislation enacted in 2013.

In 2012, the fatal gang rape of a young woman in New Delhi triggered international horror and mass protests to demand stricter rape laws. The government brought in laws doubling prison terms for rapists to 20 years and criminalising voyeurism, stalking and the trafficking of women.

Politicians also voted to lower to 16 from 18 the age at which a person can be tried as an adult for very serious crimes.

Additional reporting by agencies

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