More than a week after a six-year-old girl in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh was kidnapped and raped, the accused was finally arrested by the state police, yesterday. Apparently, he was shot in the leg after he grabbed a cop's gun, and tried to flee, the police said. This weekend, Twitter users in India are sharing news reports and updates of the #HapurRape case, which had caused a social media outcry last week.
According to an Indian news report, during investigation, the police claimed that the accused allegedly snatched a gun from a police personnel and was injured in retaliatory firing.
Reportedly, last Thursday, the little girl was kidnapped from outside her home in the Garh Mukhteshwar area, less than 100 km from Delhi, by a man on a motorcycle.
When her parents noticed her missing, they reported it, and the police launched a search for her. She was found the next morning, unconscious and soaked in blood, behind bushes not far from her village.
She was rushed to a hospital, where it was confirmed that she had been raped. Apparently, the doctors said that the girl was brutalised in a manner that is shockingly similar to the Nirbhaya gang rape case of 2012.
Three sketches, based on the statements of the girl's parents and neighbours were ciruclated by the police, in hopes of catching the perpetrator. A reward of ₹50,000 (Dh2,453.52) was announced for any information about the man. The police launched multiple search operations in Hapur and neighbouring districts in the past week to look for Dalpat. Earlier this week, a photo of the accused, Dalpat, was also released to the public, according to reports.
Before he was arrested, Dalpat had tried to mislead the police by leaving some clothes and a 'suicide note' next to a river yesterday. In the note, the man said he was taking his life because he did not want to die in a police encounter.
Reportedly, Hapur police chief Sanjeev Suman said: "Dalpat was taken to the site of the crime for investigation where he snatched a policeman's pistol and tried to fire at them. In retaliatory firing, he was hit on the leg and has been admitted to a hospital."
The girl, who has multiple injuries, is being treated at a hospital in Meerut.
