: A 45-year-old cleaner, Sheikh Munna, dragged a three-year-old girl onto a parked luxury bus on Canal (West) Road in north Kolkata on Monday afternoon and then raped her, even as her brother — a five-year-old — kept banging on the bus’s doors, pleading that he let go of his sister.

The brother, after realizing the futility of his efforts, ran to fetch his mom. She raised an alarm that alerted her neighbours, who came and rescued the girl from the rapist’s clutches and then thrashed him before calling the cops.

The girl, bleeding profusely, was taken to R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. Doctors said she had been brutalised but would possibly pull through. Cops later arrested Sheikh Munna.

"The victim's brother had pleaded with Munna to open the door and let her his sister go when she was screaming. The boy continued banging on the bus's door but there was no result," the officer in-charge of the case said.

"The woman alerted her neighbours, who rushed to the bus and rescued her from the accused's grip and then thrashed him before informing the police."

"We are waiting for the report of the tests conducted on the girl to confirm rape. We are questioning the accused and our forensic experts have collected samples from the spot where the alleged incident took place," the officer said.

"We found the girl lying in a pool of blood on a bus seat. The child's clothes were torn and she was bleeding profusely," the senior police officer said adding that the accused had blood on his hands and trousers when he was arrested.

Forensic experts have also collected blood samples and stains from the bus which has been seized, the officer added.