4-year-old offered toffees, noodles, then raped in Delhi

Amid outrage over the brutal rape of a four-year-old girl in north west Delhi, police said they have questioned over 100 people, even as the girl's family claimed that she had named a man who would offer her toffees.

The father of the girl suspected the role two men, including the one named by the child, and claimed that they had offered the girl food and money before picking her up.

Police on Sunday said they have so far picked up over 100 suspects for questioning in connection with the rape which took place in Keshavpuram area on October 9.

"We have picked up dozens of suspects and questioned them, but no concrete lead has been found so far. We have also deputed plainclothesmen for information about the accused but nothing conclusive has been achieved yet," said a police officer who is part of investigating team.

He said that police are also trying to trace a man named by the father of the child.

"A name has been mentioned by father of the victim and we are trying to trace the person. The number of accused is yet to be ascertained and we are focusing on the children who were accompanying the victim when she went missing on September 9 evening and was later found brutally raped," he said.

Father of the girl has said that she had named one man Rahul who “offered her toffees".

"On the night of October 9, two persons came with a plan. One of them gave her noodles and a Rs 10 note. He picked up the girl in his arms and handed her over to another person and vanished," the father said.

"Rahul was the one who handed over the girl to the other unidentified person. Once police catches Rahul, he will reveal name of the accused," father of the victim said.

Meanwhile, a doctor of Safdarjung Hospital, where the child was admitted for treatment, said, "The girl is stable and under observation. We are constantly monitoring her condition."

"She was admitted in the high dependency unit of Safadarjung Hospital at 8 PM on September 9. She had injury on her private parts and doctors operated on her," he said.

The doctor said that her private parts were seriously injured and a three-hour long colostomy was performed to provide for an alternate opening for passage of stool.

The girl went missing from her house on the evening of October 9. She was later found lying and crying in bushes near rail line by a passer-by, a senior police officer had said.

The girl, a resident of JJ cluster in Keshav Puram area, was raped as she was bleeding profusely. She was rushed to Mahavir Hospital, from where she was referred to Safdarjung Hospital where she is undergoing treatment, the officer said.

Sympathising with the four-year-old girl and her family, the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi said, "TV channels show it and papers publish it but it ends after that. Neither the government nor judiciary is affected; only those whose children are victims suffer."

"The system exists only on the papers and nothing is happening. Unless the government, judiciary and police wake up, such crimes will continue," she added.

Image: School children protest against increasing cases of rape in the country.