DCW chief Swati Maliwal visited the girl in the hospital (Representational Image) DCW chief Swati Maliwal visited the girl in the hospital (Representational Image)

A nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 70-year-old Muslim cleric, who taught her Urdu, late Sunday evening. The incident, which took place inside a makeshift madrasa in a slum in northwest Delhi, only came to light when the girl’s maternal aunt noticed her blood-soaked garments on Tuesday afternoon.

The girl, who was allegedly lured with Rs 5, was admitted to a government hospital Tuesday night. The cleric has been arrested. “We have registered a case under relevant sections of POCSO Act and IPC. Zafar Alam, who teaches in a local madrasa, has been arrested,” a police officer said.

“She lives two jhuggis away from my house. A neighbour visited me on Tuesday afternoon and told me my niece was sick and bleeding. I ignored it thinking she probably hurt herself while playing. In the evening, my niece ran to me and told me she was bleeding. I got very scared and took her to a doctor nearby. That’s when he suggested I take her to a lady doctor in a government hospital,” said the child’s maternal aunt (25).

Read | Delhi: Nine-year-old raped in madrasa, neighbours question ‘is it safe to let girls study’

For the last four months, the girl was studying Urdu at the makeshift madrasa with 20 other children from the colony. The cleric has lived in the area for decades, and has been teaching for close to nine years. “Back home, I coaxed her into telling me what happened. She started trembling, went cold, hugged me and told me what he did. I’m shattered… Her parents didn’t notice because the mother is mentally unstable and the father is always busy at work,” said the aunt. The girl also told her aunt that the cleric threatened her with dire consequences if she told anyone.

The girl has five siblings and her father collects garbage from homes in northwest Delhi. On Tuesday evening, the girl’s maternal aunt called the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) helpline number, 181, and DCW chief Swati Maliwal visited the girl in the hospital the next day. “This is devastating… after the rape of an eight-month-old baby last month, this happens, and the central government is silent. The girl is in trauma. We demand that cases of sexual violence against children be fast-tracked, and perpetrators be punished within six months,” she said.

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