11-year-old rape victim dies in Guj hospital after week-long battle for life

An 11-year-old girl, who was abducted and raped in an industrial area in Gujarat's Bharuch district leaving her injured, died at a government hospital in Vadodara on Monday evening after battling for life for a week, officials said.

The girl had sustained serious internal injuries in the sexual assault and was referred to SSG Hospital in Vadodara after undergoing primary treatment at the civil hospital in Ankleshwar, an industrial town in Bharuch district, hospital authorities said.

"The girl suffered from a cardiac arrest at around 2 pm, after which her condition deteriorated. The patient was stabilised after treatment, but at around 5:15 pm, she suffered another cardiac arrest. Doctors provided her with immediate treatment, but she was declared dead at 6:15 pm," said resident medical officer, SSG Hospital, Dr Hitendra Chauhan.

The minor girl's condition deteriorated as sepsis (a life-threatening response to infection or injury) spread to her entire body, leading to organ failure and causing cardiac arrests, he explained.

On December 16, an industrial worker abducted the girl when she was playing near her hut. He took her to nearby bushes, where raped her and fled the spot, leaving her injured, according to the police.

The police arrested the 36-year-old accused, a native of Jharkhand, a day after the crime.

The accused lived next to the girl's hut and worked in the same factory as her father.

A three-member delegation led by Dipika Pandey Singh, a Congress minister in the Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand, last week visited the hospital in Vadodara to meet the victim and her family members, and later targeted the Gujarat government over migrant labourers.

She also handed over a cheque of Rs 4 lakh to the victim's kin.

Gujarat health minister and government spokesperson Rushikesh Patel responded by saying Congress was politicising a serious crime like rape.