In a gruesome incident, a six-year-old girl was raped and blinded in an attack near her home in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, police said on Thursday.
She has been admitted to a hospital in a critical condition.
According to police, the girl was playing with her friends close to her home last evening when she was drawn away by an unknown man.
Since then, the girl was missing and she was found today morning in an abandoned house in her village. As per the reports, the girl was in an unconscious condition and her hands were tied with rope.
“She was raped and has severe injuries to her eyes,” said senior police officer Hemant Singh Chauhan.
“We have questioned many suspects and we are working on some leads,” he told reporters.
The police have declared a bounty of Rs 10,000 for the attacker.
The girl has been taken to Jabalpur along with her family by the police, where she is being treated for severe injuries all over the body.
The incident has horrified the entire Madhya Pradesh at a time when the entire planet is in the drip of deadly coronavirus.
Reacting on the incident, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan called the incident shameful and unfortunate.
Taking it to Twitter, he said, “Directions have been issued to arrest the accused promptly and toughest possible punishment will be given. Best possible treatment will be provided to the little girl.”
Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Kamal Nath attacked the BJP government and called it a “horrific and inhuman act”, alleging that criminals had been emboldened in the state during the lockdown.
This is the third case of rape in six days in Madhya Pradesh amid the lockdown.
A 17-year-old in Bhopal, on April 18, while on her way to the hospital was dragged into a car, taken to a deserted area and raped. A day before, another horrific incident took place in which a visually challenged 53-year-old bank manager had been raped in her apartment.