In a shocking incident, a seven-year-old girl was raped and attempt was made to damage her eyes amid in Jabera of Damoh district. The accused was arrested on Thursday evening.
The minor was missing since Wednesday evening. She was found with hands tied in an abandoned house in an agriculture field outside the village on Thursday morning.
The girl was admitted to medical college Jabalpur for treatment and her condition was said to be stable. Doctors were trying to gauge the extent of damage to her eyes.
Damoh police formed a special investigation team under Additional Superintendent of police Vivek Lal and announced a reward of Rs 35,000 on unidentified accused.
Sagar zone Inspector General of Police (IG) Anil Sharma reached the spot on Thursday afternoon and took stock of the situation and investigations.
The IG in the press conference said that the girl under Jabera police station had gone missing since Wednesday evening after she went out to purchase certain things.
He said that the accused Sachin Sen had been arrested by the police.
The family kept searching for the girl overnight and finally found her in the abandoned house in a serious condition with her hands tied and deep injuries in eyes early on Thursday morning.
Where is the state headed to: Nath
Ex-chief minister Kamal Nath attacked Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, saying that it was pushing the state towards a critical situation. In a tweet, Nath asked CM Chouhan as to how the criminals were acting with such audacity during lockdown. "This is such a brutal incident during lockdown, when common people cannot even go out to buy essentials. Criminals are roaming free. Incidents of rapes, murders including that of farmers, firing and stabbing are being reported. Even innocent girls are not safe. The culprits in the Damoh incident should be nabbed immediately and strict action taken on them. The girl should be provided proper medical care, the family should be helped in all possible way and action should also be taken on responsible authorities who were negligent," the ex-CM tweeted.
Unfortunate, says Chouhan
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also took to Twitter over the incident, terming it shameful and unfortunate. "I have taken cognizance of the incident and directed arrest of the culprit at the earliest. Strict punishment would be meted out to them. All treatment facilities will be provided to the girl," the CM said.
