A 13-year-old girl was brutally raped and dumped near a railway track in South-east Delhi's Pul Prahladpur area allegedly by a teenager who lives in her neighbourhood, police said on Wednesday.
The minor girl -- who is an orphan and mentally challenged -- is admitted in AIIMS and her condition is stated to be stable now.
"The accused, whose age is being verified, was apprehended today," Joint Commissioner of Police (Southeast) R P Upadhyay said.
The victim lives with her maternal aunt at a village near Pul Prahladpur. She went missing on May 17, and a search operation was conducted but she could not be found. In the wee hours of May 18, locals spotted the girl lying unconscious near the railway track and raised an alarm, a senior police official said.
She was then rushed to AIIMS where doctors confirmed the sexual assault and a case was registered under relevant IPC sections and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
It took the police around a week to identify the accused as the girl is not in a condition to give a statement. The locals were questioned and it emerged that the girl was last seen with the teenager, who is a vagabond, the official said.
Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal on Wednesday met the girl at AIIMS and the commission later issued notice to the Pul Prahladpur police station seeking to know why it was not informed about the incident.
Despite repeated phone calls, DCP (southeast) M S Randhawa could not be reached for comments.
"The girl has been brutally raped and we are suspecting it to be a case of gangrape. She is mentally challenged. She has severe injuries on her body. She has undergone a major surgery and according to doctors it will take her at least four months to recover. Her condition as of now is critical," Maliwal said.
"It is shocking that despite the Delhi High Court ruling which mandates informing the Crisis Intervention Cell counsellor duly approved by the Commission, as soon as the complaint of sexual assault is received at the police station, but in this case the counsellor was not informed by the police," she added.
