Toddler raped in Maharashtra's Buldhana; minor accused detained

Mumbai, Nov 24 (PTI) A two-and-half-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a minor boy at a village in Maharashtra's Buldhana district, police said on Friday. The police detained the 17-year-old boy for the incident that occurred at Tarwadi village, in the jurisdiction of Borakhedi police station, on Thursday afternoon, an official said.

The girl was playing outside her house with her grandmother when the accused, who lives in the same neighbourhood, approached her and sought permission to take the child to a shop nearby to buy her chips and chocolates, he said.

The grandmother permitted the boy to take the toddler with him. However, on the way, the boy saw an abandoned room, where he took the child and raped her, before fleeing the scene, the official said.

When the child failed to return home till evening, her parents called the boy on his mobile phone and set out to look for her, he said.

The parents then received a call from a clinic that the child had been raped and found unconscious in a room. Some locals had brought her to the facility, the official said.

The girl is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Akola, and her condition is improving, he said.

Based on a complaint lodged by the child's parents, an offence was registered under sections 376 (rape) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the official said.

The boy has been taken into custody and will be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, he added. PTI DC ARU