In a horrific incident in West Bengal’s Hooghly, a four-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted by an unidentified man.
The incident took place in the early morning on Friday when the child was sleeping next to her grandmother at a railway shed in Tarakeshwar.
According to an NDTV report, the victim was found in a pool of blood near the railway high drain later in the afternoon. She is undergoing treatment at Tarakeswar Gramin Hospital in a critical condition.
"She was sleeping with me. Around 4 am, someone took her away. I didn't even realise when she was taken. They cut the mosquito net and took her away. She was found naked," her grandmother was quoted as saying in the report.
"We live on the streets because they have demolished our houses. Where do we go? We don't have any homes," she said.
Police have filed an FIR under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).
According to some media reports, the child’s family accused the hospital staff of mishandling the case even as she was bleeding from her private parts. They also alleged that the police had refused to file an FIR initially.
The incident has stirred up a political firestorm with the BJP attacking the Mamata Banerjee government over the law and order situation in the state.
"A 4-year old girl child has been Raped in Tarkeshwar. Family rushes to Police Station, but FIR not registered ! Taken to the Hospital - referred to Chandannagar. Tarkeshwar Police busy burying the Crime," Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal, wrote on X.
“This is the True Face of Mamata Banerjee’s free-for-all regime. A child’s life is shattered, yet the Police are shielding the State’s Fake Law & Order Image, by suppressing the truth,” he said.