Stop child rape
Stop child rapeREUTERS/Amit Dave

In a shocking incident, a six-year-old girl was raped and then murdered by her neighbour during the Holi celebrations in Hyderabad. The incident happened in Alwal city of Hyderabad on Thursday.

The accused, 20-year-old, was a part of the Holi celebrations along with the victim, a daughter of a daily-wage earner, in Turkapally village of Hyderabad.

The police explained that the youth had his eyes on the victim and lured her to an isolated place near a railway track to sexually assault her. When the little girl made attempts to resist the assault, the man stabbed the child with a metal rod, reported the Times of India.

The girl's family realised that she was missing at 3 pm on Thursday. After an extensive search, they filed a missing person's complaint at 8 pm on the same day. Since the girl was a minor, the police registered the case as an abduction and launched an investigation.

They found her body in a bush near the railway track with a huge gash on the side of her neck. Her body also had signs of sexual abuse. The police shifted her to a hospital for further examination where it was confirmed that she was raped.

After interrogating the family, the girl's brother told the police that he last saw her with the 20-year-old man. The man was arrested on Friday and he confessed to his crime. The police also concluded that he was drunk during the incident.

This was not the only case in recent times when a minor was raped by a known person. Last week, a 14-year-old girl in Delhi was raped by her mother's friend, a 34-year-old male. The victim, a daughter of domestic help, tried telling her mother that the man was touching her inappropriately but her mother did not believe her. The man was a good friend of the mother and used to visit their house often.

 According to a report by The Hindu, the girl then confided with her neighbour of the incident. After the neighbour spoke to the mother, a case was registered against the rapist under Section 376 of the IPC as well as sections under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and he was arrested.