Ludhiana: The police on Wednesday evening arrested a 40-year-old man for raping a five-year-old girl in Ludhiana district. The accused, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, works as a labourer here and is the father of three children, including two daughters and a son.
The survivor’s grandmother, 53, said in her police complaint, “I am a homemaker. My daughter lives with me along with her two daughters, aged 5 and 2. Her husband had passed away in 2017. We live on the first floor and have a barn in the basement.”
On Tuesday, she and her daughter were on the first floor and her granddaughter was playing on the ground floor when they heard her crying. “We went out looking for her. Around 2pm, we reached a room and saw the accused raping her. On seeing us, the accused ran away,” she added.
She took her granddaughter to a hospital and informed the police.
The complainant said, “The accused had come along with a mason to work at our house about 20-22 days ago. They had worked here for seven to eight days.”
On receiving the complaint, police booked the accused under sections 376 AB (punishment for rape on woman under twelve years of age), and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Investigating officer inspector Prem Singh said, “The accused was arrested from the district on Wednesday evening. The survivor was sent to PGI for a medical examination. Her condition is stated to be fine.”
Police said the accused had come to Punjab about five years ago. “One of the children of the accused is of the age of the survivor,” said a cop.