Delhi horror: Minor rape victims lay 'dead' to save themselves, accused held

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New Delhi: Two minor girls aged six and eight here pretended to be dead to escape the clutches of a 24-year-old man, who allegedly raped and strangled them on Friday. The incident took place at Bawana in North West Delhi at around 7.30 pm.

The accused, who thought the girls were dead, left them in the bushes in an isolated area. They were identified by their family members the next day.

Following the incident, the victims have been admitted to the hospital. Dr Puneeta Mahajan, medical superintendent, Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, said, “The victims were brought in a critical condition. They are now in post-operative care. A team of doctors is monitoring their condition, which is, at present, stable.” 

The police, however, arrested the accused on Saturday. “We have arrested Pankaj Kumar, a factory worker, for allegedly raping the girls. He was produced before a Delhi court and sent to 14-day judicial custody,” DCP (rohini district) Rishi Pal said.

Another senior police official said, “The accused called the girls, gave them a Rs 100 note and asked them to get a packet of Eno from a shop nearby. The girls went to the shop but couldn’t find the product. The accused then asked them to accompany him to another shop, and said he would also buy them candy.”

According to the police, the elder sister of one of the girls tried to follow the accused. “She asked him to leave her sister alone, but he slapped her. When she started crying, he gave her Rs 5 and asked her to go home. He took the two girls to an isolated park near a canal, about 150 metres from their home. At the park, he raped them and beat them up. When they started crying, he hit them on their faces,” the Indian Express quoted the mother of one of the victims.

“He dumped them inside a pit after they stopped struggling, thinking they were dead. One of the girls later told her mother she ‘pretended to be dead so the man would leave’,” the officer said.

Meanwhile the parents registered a complaint to the police informing that their girls are missing.

“Around 4.45 am on Saturday, the relatives of the girls started looking inside the park. The father of one of the girls noticed some clothes lying around and started screaming. Suddenly, one of the girls rushed towards him and told him about the other girl. Police then took the girls to a hospital,” he added.

Reportedly, the accused was eventually nabbed by the police who was found living near the girls’ homes.