Prime Minister 'deeply disturbed' over rape of five-year-old

New Delhi, April 19: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said he was "deeply disturbed" over the rape and brutality committed on a five-year-old girl and asked the society to work to root out the evil.

He also expressed anger over the treatment meted out by police officers to some women protesting against the incident, saying it was "completely unacceptable" and asked Delhi Lt Governor Tajender Khanna to take strictest possible action against the erring officials.

"The Prime Minister has been deeply disturbed to hear news of the shameful incident in which a 5-year-old child in Delhi was sexually abused and is now fighting for her life in hospital," a PMO statement said.

He directed the Lt Governor to ensure that appropriate medical care is provided to the victim of the sexual assault.

"The Prime Minister has once again reiterated the need for society to look deep within and work to root out the evil of rape and other such crimes from our midst," it said.

The statement said Singh saw news visuals of the "completely unacceptable" treatment meted out by police officers to some women protesting against this incident.

"He has spoken to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in this regard and has conveyed to him the need for the strictest possible action to be taken against the erring officials," it said.

Union Home Ministry seeks report

Union Home Ministry on Friday sought report from Delhi police in the issue of brutal rape of a five-year-old girl in east Delhi as the girl has been sent to AIIMS for better treatment.


The five-year-old who was kept hostage, mutilated and raped by her neighbour, is fighting for her life at Delhi's famous AIIMS hospital.

Assistant commissioner of police, who slapped a young girl protesting against the rape, was immediately suspended.

She was kidnapped on Monday while she was playing outside her home, and was then kept captive in the basement of the same building where she lived by a man who rented a room there about a week ago.

On Wednesday evening, it wanot the police but neighbours who found her after they heard her cries.

Her father said the police offered him Rs. 2000 "to keep quiet".

Offering a weak defense, the police said that it searched public parks in the neighbourhood, but did not think to search the many rooms in the building where the family lived.

Rape accused identified: Police

Police on Friday night said they have identified the person allegedly involved in the rape of a five-year-old girl in east Delhi.

"The accused has been identified and a team is already on its way to arrest him," Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar said.

The girl was rescued from the room on the ground floor of the building where the victim and her family stayed.