In a barbaric incident, a seven-year-old girl was raped, badly beaten up, and thrown into a pit to die by one of her relatives in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad. The incident occurred on Thursday night, and the minor is now on ventilator, battling for her life, at the Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital in Delhi.

The Class II student from Punjab had come to Loni in Ghaziabad to attend her cousin’s wedding on Friday with her parents and younger brother. But, on Thursday night, she was taken to a nearby forest area by the accused, a distant relative. There she was brutally tortured and raped.

According to sources, after the gruesome incident, the accused fled to Maharashtra. A team of cops along with the father and brother of the accused has now gone to the state to locate him. "We are close and will nab him soon," a cop privy to the investigation confirmed.

“She could not speak much, but in broken words told me that a man had done something bad to her,” said her father. “She looked at me and said that a man brought her here on the pretext that I (father) was calling her. My daughter also complained of severe pain as I carried her back to the house,” he said.

The girl was brought to the hospital early on Friday morning and went through a long surgery, where her injuries required stitches in her private parts. Due to the immense pain after stitching, she has been on sedatives and whenever she gains consciousness, she would be silent, and would not talk even to her parents.

When found, the child was naked, semi-conscious, and bleeding profusely from her private parts. She also had deep cuts and wounds on her face. She was immediately taken to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital on Friday morning and an FIR was lodged at the Loni-Border police station.

"Our PRV team had been there with the family since the previous night. After the FIR, Sub-Inspector Anoop Kumar Yadav was sent to inspect the area," Rajendra Singh Khoda, Additional SHO, Loni-Border police station, said. "They found a 'gamchha' at the site. We then checked the wedding video and spotted a man in mid-30s wearing the same gamchha and even advancing towards the child at one point," he added.

The police then got hold of the suspect's father and brother, who confirmed that he had done something and had fled to Maharashtra. The accused, who hails from Baghpat in UP, worked as a labourer and lived with his brother.

“The girl was brought in with deep injuries in her private parts and smashed face. She is in a bad state,” says Doctor Sunil Kumar, Medical Superintendent, Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital. “We are treating her complications but cannot say anything as of now,” he said.

As the family waited in the hospital, the wedding went well as planned. The police identified the accused from the video footage and found that the clothes he was wearing matched those found from the spot of the incident. On questioning his relatives, the cops came to learn that he had left for Maharashtra.

“We have registered a case and have identified the accused who is on the run. We have sent a team to Maharashtra and are hopeful of catching hm soon," said a senior police officer.

Meanwhile, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chief Swati Maliwal said: "One of the worst cases seen in recent times. The child was found in such a bad state in a pit. The entire country should feel ashamed."

"She (victim) went through a critical surgery. Mud was filled in her private parts. Even if she survives, she has a long raod to recovery ahead. I have written to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, urging him to help this young 'Nirbhaya'," Maliwal added.

WHEN IT HAPPENED

The Class II student from Punjab had come to attend her cousin’s wedding.

On April 27, she was taken to a nearby forest area by the accused, a distant relative.

WAKE UP CALL

Recently, a man, in an inebriated state, allegedly raped his four-year-old neighbour after taking the child to an abandoned plot.

A juvenile raped a seven-year-old neighbour in south Delhi’s RK Puram area.

A man allegedly raped a six-year-old girl in southeast Delhi’s Govindpuri area.

HORRIFYING CASES THAT SHOOK DELHI

December 2012 Incident: Six men raped and brutally assaulted a physiotherapy intern in a moving bus that she had boarded with a friend in Munirka. The accused inserted an iron rod in her vagina, inflicting fatal injuries. She later succumbed during treatment.

Status: One of the accused was treated as a minor. Prime accused Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide in police custody, while the remaining four were sentenced to death.

January 2014 Incident: Nine people, including three juveniles, raped a 51-year-old Danish tourist for over two hours in a park just a stone’s throw away from Connaught Place.

Status: All the accused were arrested. The three juveniles are facing a Juvenile Justice Board inquiry. Six others were identified as Mahendra alias Ganja, 26, Mohammad Raja, 22, Raju, 23, Arjun, 21, Raju Chakka, 22, and Shyam Lal, 55. Five of them were sentenced to life imprisonment.

April 2013 Incident: Two men abducted their 5-year-old neighbour, kept her in captivity for four days, raped her, and in a brutal assault, inserted foreign objects in her private parts, including a hair oil bottle. The critically injured child was given nothing to eat during this duration.

Status: The two accused — Manoj Shah, 22, and Pradeep Kumar, 20, — were arrested from Bihar. The Delhi Police had filed a charge-sheet under various provisions of the newly enacted Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, related to aggravated sexual assault and for offences including kidnapping, procuring a minor girl, wrongful confinement, attempt to murder, and destruction of evidence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

May 2016 Incident: A man allegedly kidnapped his neighbour, a 14-year-old Dalit girl, in Burari, kept her tied up for days, repeatedly raped her and then forced her to drink a corrosive liquid that destroyed her organs. She died in July.

Status: The accused was arrested only after the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) intervened and issued notices to the Delhi Police. The police, however, claimed that they had arrested the accused earlier as well, but the victim had turned hostile.