Police offered bribe, advised me to thank God: Rape victim`s father

New Delhi: The father of the five-year-old girl who was held captive and raped by her neighbour said on Friday that the police had offered him Rs 2,000 to keep quiet, and advised him to "thank God that his daughter was alive".

"We went to the police to register an FIR (First Information Report) but they refused. They never tried to find her, and instead drove us away," the father of the victim told reporters here outside the Swami Dayananda Hospital in east Delhi`s Shahdara, where the girl is battling for life. The father said that when the family finally found the girl Wednesday, the police told the family to not highlight the issue, and offered them Rs 2000 to keep mum. "The police told us that we should not highlight the issue in the media and gave us Rs 2,000 as kharcha-pani (for expenses and refreshment)," said the father, adding that the police further told them to "thank God that his daughter was alive". "The police told us to take our daughter home and pray for her recovery," said one of the girl`s relatives. The girl was abducted April 15 and kept hostage for two days without food and water in a flat owned by the attacker, said to be in his 30s. He lived on the ground floor of the building in east Delhi`s Gandhi Nagar, in which the victim`s family also stayed, police said. The girl was raped repeatedly, and rescued when members of her family heard her screams Wednesday evening, police said. A doctor treating the child said her condition is "serious" and the "next 24-48 hours are critical". IANS