In yet another horrifying incident in Uttarakhand, a six-year-old girl was raped by a teenage minor in Pathri village area in Haridwar on Thursday. The perpetrator fled the scene, leaving the victim’s hands and mouth tied but was arrested on Friday and sent to a juvenile home known as “Place of safety”. This marks the second such incident involving a girl less than seven-year-old girl abused sexually in the state in the last ten days.

According to Haridwar police, the incident occurred late Thursday evening and was reported after the victim’s father lodged a complaint with the Pathri Police Station.

A case under the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered against the accused, who evaded the police for nearly 24 hours before being apprehended upon returning home.

The Haridwar police reported that the victim’s father, a daily wage worker, lodged a complaint that a 17-year-old neighbour sexually assaulted his six-year-old daughter. According to the father, the victim was playing outside their home with a five-year-old boy on Thursday evening when she was lured and raped by the accused at his home.

The police further said that when the girl did not return home for several hours and was not seen in the area, her father, along with other family members, began searching for her. During the search, the villagers learnt that a 17-year-old boy living nearby had been seen talking to the victim. The girl’s father and others immediately rushed to the teenager’s home, where they found the girl lying behind a sofa with her hands and mouth tied.

“The accused teenager took the girl inside a room, tied her hands and mouth with a dupatta, and raped her. When the girl did not return home for several hours, the family began searching for her. She was found lying behind a sofa in the accused’s house. After the incident, the teenager fled. He was booked under the POCSO Act and arrested on Friday. He was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board and has been kept at a ‘Place of safety’,” said investigating officer Sub-Inspector Shahida Parveen.

Tragically, this is the second incident in Uttarakhand in the past 10 days where a girl under 10 years old has been sexually abused. Last week, three minors in Udhamsingh Nagar raped a four-year-old girl — one aged six and two aged 10 — who attended the same school as the victim. The police later apprehended the boys, and they were placed under the protection of the Udhamsingh Nagar Juvenile Justice Board, which sent them to a “Place of safety”.