NEW DELHI: A five-year-old girl raped allegedly by a neighbour after holding her captive for four days is battling for life after she contracted infection from foreign objects inserted into her body.

The victim, whom the doctors claimed was undernourished and weighing 20kg, was shifted to AIIMS from Swami Dayanand Hospital for treatment. She underwent a surgery at the Swami Dayanand hospital for removing foreign objects from her body.

The horrific incident, which took place in east Delhi's Gandhi Nagar area, sparked protests during which assistant commissioner of police BS Ahlwat slapped a girl protester which left her with a bleeding ear.

The girl, who was missing for the past four days, was rescued from the ground floor of the building where her family was staying. The neighbour fled the spot.

Dr RK Bansal of Swami Dayanand hospital said the next 24 to 48 hours will be critical for the girl as there were injuries and bruises on her private parts, chest, lips and cheeks, adding it was one of the worst cases his team of doctors had attended to.

She had some bruises on her neck which indicated that the accused might have tried to strangle her.

"She was scared and not fully conscious. Initially she did not allow us to proceed with the examination as she was in tremendous pain. She had fever also and after giving medicines, it became normal. However, the fever recurred and we found she had some infection.

"After giving anaesthesia, more tests were conducted and we found that there were some foreign objects like candle and a 200ml bottle of hair oil inside her body," Bansal said, adding they were not giving her food as she had infection in her stomach also.

The victim's family claimed that policemen tried to bribe them with Rs 2,000 to hush up the case, prompting Delhi Police to order a vigilance inquiry to probe into the allegations.

"We have ordered a vigilance inquiry. The accused has been identified and a team is already on its way to arrest him," Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar told .

The minor's family claimed that the police was "insensitive" by not registering a case in time and that some policemen told them that they should be happy that the girl was alive, allegations which were denied by the force.

"Yesterday night a policeman came and asked me to come out. He told me nothing will happen by involving public. He told me that you should take care of the child and be with her. Public would not help you and he also handed me Rs 2,000 and left. He said I should cover my pocket expenses from this money," the victim's father alleged.

He also claimed that police refused to lodge a case when he went to the police station to lodge an FIR. "If they had made a better attempt, they would have found her. Police told me to be happy that she was alive," he alleged.

He further alleged that doctors refused to give any information beyond that his daughter was critical.

The girl's mother said the victim went out to play and was kidnapped. "The man then locked her up in his room and raped her. I want justice from the government," she said.

A relative of the girl alleged that when they went to the police station to enquire about the case, they were told that now they should pray for her recovery as she has been rescued.

A senior police official denied the allegations saying they found the child from the same building where the girl was staying and rushed the victim to the hospital.

He said a case of kidnapping was registered immediately after the matter was reported to them.

On the slapping issue, Commissioner Kumar said it was an "unfortunate incident but let me assure this incident is an aberration. Delhi Police is not known for such high-handedness and we have now taken a prompt and strict action of suspending the ACP."

Delhi Government will now hold an inquiry into the issue.

PM 'deeply disturbed'

PM Manmohan Singh reacted to the incident saying, he was "deeply disturbed" to hear news of shameful rape brutally committed on five-year-old girl. Manmohan Singh also termed it as "completely unacceptable" treatment meted out by police officers to some women protesting against the rape incident.