BHOPAL: A nine-year-old Class IV student was allegedly kidnapped and raped by a youth in front of her 11-year-old brother in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, six days after a Class III girl was kidnapped and murdered by a neighbour in Narsinghpur.
The incident happened in Mehgaon police station area of the northern MP district when the nine-year-old girl and her brother, a Class VI student, were returning home from the school, a police official said.
“Aged around 21 years, the youth who was known to the siblings’ family stopped them on the pretext of dropping them home on his motorcycle. But instead of taking the sister-brother duo home, the accused took them to a desolate place, where he raped the nine-year-old girl in front of her helpless elder brother,” the official said.
When the girl’s brother attempted to resist the sexual assault by the youth, the accused assaulted him. The accused subsequently abandoned the brother-sister duo and fled from the spot. With his sister lying unconscious, the Class VI boy rushed back home and informed the family about the horror, the police official said.
The family members subsequently rushed to the spot and took the minor to a hospital, where the sexual assault was confirmed. Family members subsequently reported the crime to the Mehgaon police station
“We formed multiple teams and arrested the accused in less than 24 hours. The accused is a resident of the same village where the girl lives and was well known to her family. We are also checking the arrested youth’s criminal antecedents,” Bhind district police superintendent Suraj Verma said.
The gruesome incident in Bhind district happened six days after a Class III girl, while returning home from school, was taken on the motorcycle by a 28-year-old neighbour Annu Yadav on the pretext of dropping her home. She was forcibly taken into the jungles in Gotegaon area, where the accused first raped her and then strangled her to death.
Narsinghpur district police superintendent Rishikesh Meena formed multiple police teams. The accused was arrested in less than 24 hours of the recovery of the girl’s body.
The two incidents come amid a rise in crimes against children in the country. According to NCRB, 1.87 lakh cases of crimes against children were registered in 2024, nearly 6% more than in 2023. POCSO Act offences accounted for 69,191 cases.
Second incident in six days
The gruesome incident in Bhind comes six days after a Class III girl, while returning home from school, was taken on the motorcycle by a neighbour. She was forcibly taken into the jungles in Gotegaon area, where the accused raped and killed her.
