A 21-year-old unemployed youth has been arrested on the charge of raping and trying to kill a two-year-old girl in Bailhongal taluk on Saturday.
According to the police, Subhash Mahadeva Naikar, who knew the toddler’s family, went to the anganwadi where the toddler was playing and took her to a ground away from the village. He raped her and she fell unconscious. The accused, who was drunk, thought she had died. He wanted to bury her and began digging a pit. But the baby woke up and started crying. A passer-by heard the cry and rushed to the spot where the accused was trying to strangle the child and bury her in the pit. The passer-by called out for other villagers who came running and beat up the accused.
The baby was bleeding and her parents took her to a local hospital. She was later shifted to the Belagavi district hospital where paediatricians are treating her. She is in deep shock, but recovering. “We are considering all options including transfusion,” a doctor said.
SP Ravikante Gowda has deployed additional forces at the village where angry residents staged a protest and asked the police to hand over the accused to them, as they wanted to teach him a lesson.
A case under POCSO Act has been registered by Bailhongal police.