BHOPAL: A five-year-old girl with severe wounds across her body is battling for life in the ICU of Gwalior’s Kamla Raja Hospital, five days after being raped and brutally assaulted by a teenage neighbour in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district.
The child is in excruciating pain, unable to sleep due to multiple wounds across her body, including severe tears in her privates, face, and jaw. Even the slightest movement on the hospital bed makes her scream in agony. The 17-year-old accused has been taken into police custody.
Recounting the horror which happened on February 22 night, the girl’s grandfather said, “Both my wife and I were away with our ailing son (the girl’s father) for his treatment at a hospital in Jhansi district in neighbouring UP. Taking advantage of the situation, the neighbourhood boy abducted our five-year-old granddaughter and committed unimaginable brutality with her at an abandoned house in the neighbourhood.”
“He has been arrested by the police, but we want him to be publicly hanged to death for what he has done to our little granddaughter,” the grandfather said.
At the time of the abduction, the girl was playing outside her house while her mother was inside with her infant brother.
The severity of injuries on her face, jaw, head, and private parts suggests that the accused repeatedly slammed her head against the wall. After sexually assaulting her, he attempted to pull her legs apart, inflicting severe wounds on her private parts.
“We have so far managed to save her life through the sustained efforts of our team of paediatricians and gynaecologists,” said Dr RKS Dhakad, Dean of Gajra Raja Government Medical College in Gwalior.
“Her private parts were so badly damaged that we had to perform a colostomy to create an opening in the abdominal wall to allow stool to pass through,” Dhakad said.
The doctor further added “We have treated many cases of brutality, but the wounds suffered by this five-year-old girl suggest that the tormentor committed unimaginable savagery. Our doctors have secured her life and are working round the clock to improve her stable condition.”
According to the medical team treating her, as many as 28 stitches have been placed on her private parts to repair the severe damage caused there.
Taking to the social media platform X, union minister and local BJP MP Jyotiraditya Scindia posted.
“I’m constantly in touch with doctors. There is no place for such crimes in our region and state. I took immediate cognizance of the incident and spoke to the district administration and SP Shivpuri and directed them to take strict action against such dreaded criminals.”
According to sub-divisional officer police (SDOP-Shivpuri) Prashant Sharma, the accused has been taken into custody and booked under multiple sections, including provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) 2012.