Three people arrested in connection with the case using CCTV footage

CCTV footage shows the accused coolly walking away with the sleeping girl in his arms. Image Credit: Screengrab

Dubai: Another girl child was gang-raped in India, this time a three-year old. The toddler was abducted from a railway station as she was sleeping, before being allegedly raped and beheaded by two men in India. According to the police, the incident occurred on July 26 at the Tatanagar railway station in the Indian state of Bihar.

Twitter users are shocked at the CCTV footage of the incident.

Indian media reports say that the girl reportedly went missing from the railway station in Jamshedpur area of Jharkhand last week and her torso was found on Tuesday night at the instance of the accused who was arrested after being identified in the CCTV footage.

The three-year old was sleeping with her mother at the railway station on Thursday when she was kidnapped by one of the three accused Rinku, who could be seen on CCTV footage coolly walking away with the sleeping girl in his arms.

The police scanned the footage and initiated search operation to nab the culprits. Rinku and his associate Kailash were arrested on Monday. Meanwhile, the body of the child was recovered from a bush near Tatanagar’s Dhobi Ghat area.

Sniffer dogs were pressed into service to locate the head of the girl, Superintendent of Police (Railway) Ehtesham Waquarib said, according to a Press Trust of India report.

An article on Daily Mail reports: "After waking up and realising her daughter was gone, her frantic mother phoned the police, suspecting her partner as the culprit. She told police she had left her husband and travelled to Jamshedpur from Purulia district in West Bengal with her new partner. Police found the body of the girl, with the head missing, near the Telco police station area in Jamshedpur."

Repeat offenders

Media reports say that one of the alleged killers, Rinku Sahu, is a repeat offender. Believed to be a father-of-three, he is the one who can be seen in the video snatching the girl. Sahu recently left prison after serving time for kidnapping a child and attempting to kill her in 2015.

Rinku and his friend Kailash, allegedly told the police they gang-raped the child over a whole day and strangled her because she wouldn't stop crying.

Police have also arrested Monu Mandal, who was with the child's mother at the platform, believed to be her partner. He is being investigated for child trafficking.

Social media reactions

How many more such reports do the lawmakers need, to take strict action? This is the question many Twitter users asked.

@thakkar_012 posted: "@narendramodi - Just another day and another rape happened in Jharkhand....sir it's my humble request that please implement “DEATH PENALTY” law...rape will not stop unless you give severe punishment to all the rapist!"

Indian journalist Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) tweeted: "Toddler raped and beheaded. Unbelievable and horrifying. Malignant evil stalks India these days."

Tweep @JayaChawla7: "With cases like Unnao as examples, people think they can get away with any manner of atrocities. unable to comprehend how a human is able to commit such a barbaric act."

Voicing a similar sentiment @Kaminisharma003 posted that it was impunity enjoyed by criminals that resulted in such extreme violence. She posted: "Jharkhand, girl child raped and killed. CCTV shows abduction by a man who previously completed a 7-year jail term for rape. Thank you law and order. You never fail us. That's why we become extreme."

India unsafe for girl children

This is the second such case in just a week's time. Last week a two-and-a-half-year-old girl was also allegedly raped and killed in Pune city of Maharashtra, according to media reports.

A 2018 expert opinion survey published by the Thomson Reuters Foundation showed that India is the most dangerous country in the world to be a woman.

Tweep @ManojSoral asked the Prime Minister of the country: "@PMOIndia @narendramodi... What's happening? A 19-year-old girl gang-raped on her birthday in Mumbai. Jharkhand - Police still looking for the severed head of toddler raped, beheaded. 17-year-old girl kidnapped in Palghar. Jaipur rape: CCTV footage shows abduction of a seven-year-old girl.