In a distressing incident in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur, a 5-year-old girl was sexually assaulted allegedly by a 40-year old man on Wednesday. The accused Kiran was an acquaintance of the child’s family, the police said.
According to the Inspector of Police Bala Maddileti, Kiran visited the child’s house around 7pm in the evening. On finding the child alone, he allegedly sexually assaulted her in the washroom and left the house. On returning to their house, the parents found the child crying in pain and took her to the hospital. On examining her, the doctors realised what had happened and informed the parents, who filed a complaint at the police station on Thursday.
The child’s father works as an auto driver, while her mother works at a private hospital in the city. The couple have four children, and usually returned home from work at night while the children would play under the supervision of neighbours. “When the parents found the child, she was not able to articulate what had happened. When the doctors identified that she was assaulted, she was able to identify that it was Kiran, since he was familiar to the family and often visited their home”, the Inspector said.
Police have said that the child is undergoing treatment at the government general hospital, and is recuperating.
The accused was arrested on Thursday and sent to remand. Police have registered a case under sections 3 and 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for penetrative sexual assault, and under Section 376 (Rape) of the IPC. Activists have demanded severe punishment for the accused.
In another terrible incident in Telangana last month, a nine-month-old girl child in Telangana was sexually assaulted and murdered. The incident took place in Hanamkonda in Warangal. The accused, a 28-year-old man who was also a neighbour, had been arrested. The incident had triggered widespread protests, demanding death penalty for the accused. In the same week, a 9-year-old girl was sexually assaulted at Ramanthapur in Hyderabad.