Toddler raped in Buldhana, minor accused detained

A minor boy, aged 17, has been detained by the police in connection with the alleged rape of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl in Tarwadi village, located in the Buldhana district of Maharashtra. The incident took place on Thursday afternoon within the jurisdiction of the Borakhedi police station.

The girl was playing outside her house with her grandmother when the accused, who lives in the same neighbourhood, approached her and sought permission to take the child to a shop nearby to buy her chips and chocolates, an official said.

The grandmother granted permission for the boy to accompany the toddler. However, during their journey, the boy came across an abandoned room, where he assaulted and raped the child before hastily leaving the scene, as reported by the official.

When the child failed to return home till evening, her parents called the boy on his mobile phone and set out to look for her, he said. The parents then received a call from a clinic that the child had been raped and found unconscious in a room. Some locals had brought her to the facility, the official said.

The girl is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Akola, and her condition is improving, he said. Based on a complaint lodged by the child’s parents, an offence was registered under sections 376 (rape) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the official said. The boy has been taken into custody and will be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, he added.