BHOPAL: A 20-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday late night for allegedly abducting, sexually assaulting and attempting to kill an eight-year-old Class III student in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh.
The arrested accused identified as Irfan alias Bhaiyyu Mev was arrested after being identified by police from the CCTV footage retrieved from a place located between the school where the girl studied and the spot where she was found abandoned on Wednesday afternoon.
The arrested man who hails from Mandsaur district has been booked for abduction, sexual assault and attempt to murder, said SP of Mandsaur district Manoj Kumar Singh.
Not only did the accused abduct the minor from outside the school while she was waiting to return home with parents on Tuesday evening, but he also sexually assaulted her repeatedly. He then tried to kill her by slitting the throat with a knife, but the girl survived as the injury wasn't very deep, added Singh.
The girl who was found abandoned in bushes at Lakshman Gate locality on Wednesday afternoon has sustained wounds all across the body and is presently stated critical at a hospital in Indore.
The arrested accused is a Class VII school dropot who earns living by working as a daily wage labourer. He has been involved in the past in two criminal cases, including an Arms Act case.
On Tuesday evening, the girl's father reached the school half an hour late to fetch her daughter back for home. But he couldnt find his daughter there.
On enquiring about her from the school staff, he found that his daughter had been taken away by an unidentified man, while she was waiting for father near the school's gate.
The matter was reported immediately to Mandsaur police at around 8 pm on Tuesday and the cops immediately swung into action.
"Multiple teams were formed and tasked with tracking the minor at the earliest. After the girl was found abandoned in bushes near Lakshman Gate on Wednesday afternoon, CCTV footage were retrieved from one of the locations between the school and the bushes where the girl was found abandoned. A distance of over 500 meters separated the two spots," said SP Mandsaur.
After retrieving the footage, the police succeeded in identifying the accused and nabbed him late in the evening from Mandsaur district only.
While the accused has been arrested within 24 hours of the girl going missing, it remains to be seen what action is initiated against the school, particularly as the minor was abducted from near the school gate.
Also, the CCTV cameras installed at the school gate were not functioning properly, as their connecting wire had allegedly been nibbled by rats.
It remains to be seen whether the school education department acts against the concerned school or not, particularly as it's run by an outfit close to the ruling BJP.