BIDAR/HYDERABAD: A five-year-old girl was whisked away in her sleep and allegedly raped in Bidar district of Karnataka, barely a day after a 23-year-old paramedical student was gangraped, stripped and thrown out of a moving bus in New Delhi triggering outrage across the country.

Police said the incident, the latest in a series of rape incidents across India lately, occurred at Saigaon village under Hulsoor police station of Bidar district.

A complaint lodged by parents on Monday alleged that the victim was sleeping at her home when some unidentified person took her away around 9 pm and committed the crime at an isolated place. Although no arrests have been made so far, a search is on to arrest the culprit, police sources said.

The girl was initially admitted at a hospital in Bidar, but family members decided to bring her to Hyderabad as her condition worsened with heavy bleeding and doctors advised them to take her to a better facility.

At Hyderabad’s state-run Niloufer Hospital, the girl was examined by a gynaecologist on Wednesday evening and immediate medical attention given, officials said.

“Some tears were found in the perennial region and were sutured by a paediatric surgeon. Samples were also collected for analysis and handed over the police,” Dr D Ranganadh, superintendent of Niloufer Hospital told TOI. Some local television channels showed her mother crying profusely while narrating the incident to reporters.

Anger and outrage continues across India following the brutal gangrape of the student in Delhi on Monday and police had to use water cannons to disperse protesters. The incident has prompted authorities to take stringent measures to tackle such crime in the city.

