This file photo taken on February 21, 2017 shows an Indian social activist holding a placard during a protest against a rape at Hauz Khas village in New Delhi. — AFP photo
An eight-month-old baby girl has been raped, allegedly by her cousin, in the Indian capital Delhi.
Police say she is in a critical condition after being admitted to hospital on Sunday. They have arrested the 28-year-old cousin.
Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal, who visited the girl, described her injuries as ‘horrific’.
The debate over sexual violence in India has grown after the fatal gang rape of a female student in 2012.
The rape of the baby girl happened on Sunday but came to light on Monday after local media reported it.
Maliwal tweeted that the baby had undergone a three-hour operation.
‘Her heart-rending cries could be heard in the intensive-care unit of the hospital. She has horrific injuries in her internal organs,’ she tweeted after visiting the hospital on Monday night.
Maliwal posted another tweet expressing her anguish.
‘What to do? How can Delhi sleep today when 8 month baby has been brutally raped in capital? Have we become so insensitive or we have simply accepted this as our fate?’
She also tweeted a direct appeal to prime minister Narendra Modi that ‘stricter laws and more police resources’ were needed to protect girls in the country.
Others joined her, expressing shame and anger over the horrific crime.
The 2012 gang rape and murder of the 23-year-old student on a bus in Delhi sparked days of protests and forced the government to introduce tougher anti-rape laws, including the death penalty.
However, brutal sexual attacks against women and children continue to be reported across the country.
Source: New Age.
