india

Updated: Jul 02, 2018 23:39 IST

The rape of an eight-year-old from Mandsaur was not planned ahead, but was a spur-of-the-moment decision, the two accused told police during interrogation.

The girl was abducted from her school by one of the accused and taken to Laxman Darwaza where the duo – Irfan and Asif – raped her, slit her throat and left her for dead. The girl suffered serious injuries to her neck, face and private parts. Both have been arrested and their remand has been extended for three more days till July 5.

According to CSP Rakesh Mohan Shukla, Ifran told police that he was loitering outside the school when he saw the girl standing outside the school premises. Though he left the area at first, when he returned around 10 minutes later, the girl was still standing there and there was no one else near the school gates. Irfan said he approached the girl and convinced her to come with him by promising her sweets. If asked by someone where he was taking the girl, Irfan planned to say that he was taking her home since no one had come to pick her up.

He then called Asif over phone and took the girl to Laxman Darwaza, which is situated behind a bus stand. Laxman Darwaza is entrance to an old and ruined fort, and the area is swampy and covered in bushes. The duo raped the girl here, slit her throat and left her for dead.

When the girl was found, she apparently said there were three men. The police have yet to record her statement. Shukla said that for now there are only two suspects, both of whom have been arrested.

The girl, who has been in the hospital since being found, was in critical condition and required two surgeries.

Doctors said an object – possibly a rod or a wooden stick – had been inserted into the girl in a manner brutal enough to draw out her entrails, a fact that bears close resemblance to the brutal 2012 gang rape of a 23-year-old woman in Delhi.

The child’s condition is said to be improving now. However, doctors say she is too traumatised to speak.

The crime sparked outrage among citizens who carried out protests in demand for justice. A total bandh was observed in neighbouring Neemuch district on Friday, with thousands of people taking out a march and submitting a memorandum to the district administration, demanding the accused be hanged for the crime.