8-year-old gang-raped by juveniles, now in Bhopal hospital

BHOPAL: While the state is reeling from the brutal murder and rape of a child in Bhopal, an eight-year-old girl was gang-raped by two minors in Singrauli district late Tuesday evening.
She is in hospital in serious condition. The two juveniles, aged 15 and 16, are in custody.
The child was attacked when she had gone to bathe in the village canal on Tuesday afternoon.The two teenage boys dragged her to a deserted spot, raped her and fled.
Writhing in pain and bleeding, she somehow staggered home, but she was so traumatized that she couldn’t say anything to her parents. They thought she had been bitten by an animal or insect while bathing and took her to hospital, where doctors suspected rape and gently asked her to explain what had happened.
“She was first taken to the community health centre, and referred to the district hospital. It was here that she narrated her ordeal to doctors and nurses,” Kotwali police station in-charge Manish Tripathi told TOI. The doctors called police.
“We were informed at 1.30am. A ‘zero FIR’ was registered and the accused, who are neighbours of the survivor, were arrested immediately. The FIR has been transferred to the local police station,” he added. Singrauli SP Abhijeet Ranjan stayed for the entire night at the hospital and visited the village and crime scene on Wednesday.
The child was bleeding heavily when admitted to hospital but he condition is improving, said Tripathi, adding that she was shifted to a bigger hospital on Wednesday for better treatment.