Delhi cops arrest man who raped 3-year-old, left her to die in pit

New Delhi: A three-and-a-half-year-old girl was abducted, raped and dumped into a pit by a man after he presumed her to be dead in north Delhi's Sarai Rohilla area, police said on Tuesday.

Birbal (35), was arrested on the intervening night of November 21 and 22 after the victim's elder sister told police that she had seen a man giving chocolate to her, they said.

When the accused was arrested, he was in a highly inebriated state. On becoming a little sober around 6 am on Tuesday, he confessed that he had abducted the minor, raped her and then dumped her in a pit near Sarai Rohilla railway station on thinking that she had died, a police officer said.

He was taken to the spot in the morning where the girl was found lying motionless in the pit. She was rushed to Bara Hindu Rao hospital and her condition is stated to be out of danger, police said.

Birbal even strangulated the kid before dumping her into the pit but she survived, a senior police officer said.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal visited the girl's family at the hospital.

"3.5 year old girl raped by 35 year old in Sarai Rohilla.

He attempted her murder, was left unconscious in bushes.

Critical, m visiting her," Maliwal tweeted before visiting the girl.

The girl was playing with her elder sister near her house in Anand Parbat when the accused reportedly offered them chocolate. He then diverted the elder sister's attention and took the victim away and allegedly raped her.

"The girl was missing since 7 PM yesterday. Her parents and neighbours searched for her for two hours before informing the police," a senior police officer said.

A case under sections 363 (kidnapping), 307 (attempt to murder), 376 (rape) of IPC and other relevant sections of the POCSO has been registered against the accused, the officer said.

A four-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted on Sunday before she was killed in northwest Delhi's Keshavpuram area.