Patna: An eight-month-old breastfeeding baby girl was allegedly raped by unidentified people in Bihar on Friday evening, sparking strong protests and inviting wide condemnations.
The incident took place at Maniyari village in Muzaffarpur, a north Bihar district located some 80km from Patna.
Police said the victim’s mother had gone out in the field to bring some vegetables asking her minor daughter to take care of sister when someone barged into her dark room and allegedly raped the baby.
After some time when the victim’s mother returned home with the vegetable she was shocked to see the bleeding infant lying unconscious.
She hurriedly took the baby and rushed to the nearest government hospital which later referred her to the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital, Muzaffarapur after finding her condition critical. Doctors treating the baby said her condition continues to be critical.
“We met the victim family and got details about the incident. We are investigating the case,” a local police official Amit Kumar told the media today.
Similar incident had been reported Delhi in September last year when an 11-month-old baby was kidnapped and raped for two hours after being snatched from the arms of her sleeping mother at a makeshift shelter.
Another such incident was reported from Bihar in January last year when a man raped a three-year-old baby and then hung her upside down from a tree before fleeing the scene. The incident took place at a village in northern Bihar Madhubani district on Friday.
The incidents of rape remain a matter of grave concern in Bihar, and according to an official report, a total of 945 cases of rapes were reported last year. In 2015, a total of 1,041 incidents of rape were reported, followed by 1,127 in 2014 and 1,128 in 2013.
Similarly, 927 cases reported in 2012, 934 in 2011, 795 in 2010, 929 in 2009, 1,041 in 2008, 1,122 in 2007, 1,083 in 2006 and 973 in 2005 — the year when chief minister Nitish Kumar came to power dethroning 15 years of Rashtriya Janata Dal regime.
