Condition of raped Indian girl, 5, improves as protests continue
Source: Agencies |
April 22, 2013, Monday
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THE condition of a five-year-old girl who was allegedly kidnapped, raped and tortured by a man and then left alone in a locked room in India's capital for two days has improved, doctors said yesterday, as protests continued over the authorities' handling of the case.
A team of doctors at New Delhi's top government hospital are treating the child and officials said that she was in "stable condition."
"She is in stable condition and showing signs of improvement," hospital medical superintendent D.K. Sharma said.
"She is conscious and talking to her parents, doctors and nurses and it can be said there is no danger to her life now," he added.
Later, speaking with reporters Sharma said the child had been gravely injured.
But "she is perhaps too young to understand the gravity of the situation", he added.
Police say the girl went missing on April 15 and was found two days later by neighbors who heard her crying in a locked room in the same New Delhi building where she lives with her family. The girl was alone when she was found, having been left for dead by the man following the brutal attack, police say.
The 22-year-old suspect, Manoj Kumar, described by media reports as a tenant in the child's house, was caught after he fled to his in-laws' home in the eastern state of Bihar.
Police accused Kumar of repeatedly attacking the child inside a locked room after kidnapping her last Monday in a lower middle-class area of New Delhi.
The attack on the girl and the following public revulsion was reminiscent of the horrifying gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a bus last December, who died from her injuries.
That case led to weeks of protests and a national debate over the status of women in India, putting the spotlight on the high incidence of sexual violence.
India's prime minister yesterday reminded officials of the protests in the wake of the gang-rape in December and the latest attack and urged them to address growing concerns over the "safety, security and status of women" in India.
"The gruesome assault on a little child a few days back reminds us of the need to work collectively to root out this sort of depravity from our society," Manmohan Singh said.
"The agitations that have followed the two incidents also point to the need for showing concern and sensitivity while dealing with the public anxiety that such incidents generate," Singh said.
The premier said his government toughened an anti-rape law after the attack in December on the female student by six men in a bus.
For the second consecutive day, hundreds of people protested yesterday outside police headquarters in the capital, angry over allegations that police had ignored complaints by the girl's parents that she was missing.
About 100 supporters of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party protested outside the home of the chief of the ruling Congress Party, Sonia Gandhi, demanding that the government ensure the safety and security of women and girls in the city.
A team of doctors at New Delhi's top government hospital are treating the child and officials said that she was in "stable condition."
"She is in stable condition and showing signs of improvement," hospital medical superintendent D.K. Sharma said.
"She is conscious and talking to her parents, doctors and nurses and it can be said there is no danger to her life now," he added.
Later, speaking with reporters Sharma said the child had been gravely injured.
But "she is perhaps too young to understand the gravity of the situation", he added.
Police say the girl went missing on April 15 and was found two days later by neighbors who heard her crying in a locked room in the same New Delhi building where she lives with her family. The girl was alone when she was found, having been left for dead by the man following the brutal attack, police say.
The 22-year-old suspect, Manoj Kumar, described by media reports as a tenant in the child's house, was caught after he fled to his in-laws' home in the eastern state of Bihar.
Police accused Kumar of repeatedly attacking the child inside a locked room after kidnapping her last Monday in a lower middle-class area of New Delhi.
The attack on the girl and the following public revulsion was reminiscent of the horrifying gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a bus last December, who died from her injuries.
That case led to weeks of protests and a national debate over the status of women in India, putting the spotlight on the high incidence of sexual violence.
India's prime minister yesterday reminded officials of the protests in the wake of the gang-rape in December and the latest attack and urged them to address growing concerns over the "safety, security and status of women" in India.
"The gruesome assault on a little child a few days back reminds us of the need to work collectively to root out this sort of depravity from our society," Manmohan Singh said.
"The agitations that have followed the two incidents also point to the need for showing concern and sensitivity while dealing with the public anxiety that such incidents generate," Singh said.
The premier said his government toughened an anti-rape law after the attack in December on the female student by six men in a bus.
For the second consecutive day, hundreds of people protested yesterday outside police headquarters in the capital, angry over allegations that police had ignored complaints by the girl's parents that she was missing.
About 100 supporters of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party protested outside the home of the chief of the ruling Congress Party, Sonia Gandhi, demanding that the government ensure the safety and security of women and girls in the city.
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