Will it ever end? 5-yr-old Ahmedabad girl raped in Gandhinagar district

In yet another shocking case of sexual assault, a five-year-old girl was raped in the state capital in the early hours of Friday. The child had gone with her mother to her relatives’ place in Dehgam, Gandhinagar, on the occasion of the marriage of her aunt (mother’s sister). The accused, a 19-year-old youth, Vijay Salat, is absconding.

The victim lives with her parents in the Kubernagar area of Ahmedabad. Her father, Chana Marwadi, is a labourer.

The child’s mother, Jamna Marwadi, has stated in the FIR filed with the Dehgam police that after the marriage ceremony was over, her daughter went to sleep with her grandmother.

However, at around 5 in the morning, the grandmother woke up to the victim’s cries. The girl was complaining of stomach-ache. On closer examination, the grandmother and other family members found that the girl’s clothes were soaked in blood.

When they asked the girl what had happened, they learnt that she had been raped by a neighbour. According to the FIR, the minor said Salat had taken her to a nearby field and raped her. Sources said that, later, the victim had identified the accused from his photographs too.

The family members immediately informed the police and an FIR was lodged by the victim’s mother.

The minor girl’s uncle, Bhanu Salat, told DNA that the accused was a neighbour of the family in Dehgam. “The police took the child to Dehgam hospital for a primary medical check-up and, later, brought her to Gandhinagar civil hospital for treatment.”