A 35-year-old man raped the three-and-a-half-year-old daughter of his neighbour on Monday and dumped her in a ditch, taking her to be dead. The girl was rescued nine hours after the horrific incident, and the accused, identified as Birbal, was arrested from his home.

The incident took place in the Harijan Basti locality of north Delhi. The victim is undergoing treatment at a city hospital, and her condition is reported to be stable.

Around 9pm on Monday, the Police Control Room (PCR) received a call regarding kidnapping of a minor girl. A police team reached the location, where the father of the victim informed them that the child was playing outside their home before she went missing. She was last seen at 7pm.

A case of kidnapping was registered and the police swung into action to find the child. A team including Assistant Sub-Inspector Naseeb Singh, and Constables Jaideep and Pradeep was formed to handle the sensitive matter.

Locals in the area were questioned, who revealed that they had seen the girl playing.

The elder sister of the victim then told the police that she had seen someone giving her a chocolate. On the basis of this input, the police started their inquiry. It then came to the fore that someone had seen a man, who lived in the same building as the victim, with her. Accused Birbal had worked with the victim's father as well.

Birbal was picked up from his home after midnight. "He was in an inebriated condition and could not even speak or stand properly. He denied that he was with the victim. Finally early on Tuesday morning, he regained consciousness and confessed that he had raped and killed the child," a police officer said.

Based on the information provided by the accused, the police started looking for the girl near the Sarai Rohilla railway station. After searching for almost an hour, they spotted her in a pit near the tracks.

"The girl was numb and had no clothes on her body. We were shocked to see her," said the landlord of the victim's house. The only sign of life she showed was when she started crying on seeing her mother. She was immediately rushed to the Bara Hindu Rao Hospital.

"A case under section 363 (kidnapping), 307 (attempt to murder), 376 (rape) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act has been registered at the Sarai Rohilla police station. Further investigation is underway," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), North, Madhur Verma.