HYDERABAD: A 20-year-old youth raped a five-year-old girl after taking her to an isolated place in Hyderabad’s Madhapur area on Saturday night while her parents were away.

Police said Dhan Bahadur took the girl to the isolated place while she was playing near her house and raped her. The girl’s mother, a domestic help, got to know about it hours later as she returned after work and reported the rape to police a day later.

“I saw my daughter crying. On inquiry, she told me that the man from our neighbourhood took her and forced himself on her. The next day, she identified the culprit and he was handed over to the police,” the mother told TOI. “I want the animal to be hanged till death. If we spare him today, he might commit the same offence again and one more innocent girl and her family will go through a similar trauma.’’

Bahadur works at a food court at a mall. After sexually assaulting the girl, he left her near her house and left.

Police said both the victim and the culprit are from Nepal. They said Bahadur had confessed to raping the girl in an inebriated state.

“Doctors confirmed that the girl was raped and we have registered a case under section 376 of the IPC against the culprit,” inspector K Srinath Reddy said.

The victim was discharged on Sunday night after treatment.

The rape came to light while DGP V Dinesh Reddy was holding a presser during which he described Andhra Pradesh as a ``safe haven’’ for women. He quoted statistics, saying crimes against women had dropped considerably in 2012.

The number of rape cases appear to have come down in the state, but overall crimes against women have increased by 1.8%. As per police statistics, in addition to rape cases, dowry deaths and kidnapping cases have declined. But cases under the Dowry Prohibition (DP) Act, harassment and bigamy have gone up.

The police chief said the number of rapes in the state had come down from 1,291 in 2011 to 1,191 the following year till November 30).

