Delhi: 24-year-old held for rape of 2 minors

New Delhi: A 24-year-old man has been arrested in Bawana, on Monday, for allegedly raping and strangling two girls aged six and eight respectively.

The mother of one of the victims told the police that the girls pretended to be dead so that the accused would leave them.

The victims had gone missing on Friday after which their families launched a frantic search for them. Subsequently, the police was informed who also started looking for the girls.

The family members of the girls reached a park in the area around 4.45 am on Saturday and found some clothes lying there. The two girls were found in the park in a bad condition. They were rushed to a hospital. Later, it was found that they had been raped by a neighbour who had lured them on the pretext of giving them candy.

The accused saw the girls roaming in the area on Friday and gave them a Rs 100 note to get him an antacid from a nearby shop. But they could not find the medicine he had asked for at the shop. He then asked them to accompany him to another shop and told them that he would buy them sweets.

The elder sister of one of the victims felt suspicious about his advances towards the duo. When she questioned him, he slapped her. He gave her `5 and told her to leave the girls with him. He took the minors to a park where he sexually assaulted them and even thrashed them. He then strangled them and left them to die in a pit.

The duo did not know the name of the accused but informed the police that they had seen him in their neighbourhood. The police questioned the locals on the basis of the description given by the two girls. The accused was nabbed on Saturday from the area. He is currently in judicial custody.

The girls were hospitalised and their condition is stable now. They are currently admitted at the B.R. Ambedkar Hospital.

“Their condition is stable and they are being kept under observation at the moment,” the medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Punita Mahajan, said.