Jalgaon farmer rapes kid's 4-yr-old friend

A week after the triple rape and murder of three siblings at Bhandara, a 35-year-old farmer allegedly raped his daughter’s four-year-old friend at a village in Jalgaon district in Maharashtra.

On Thursday afternoon, the child was playing in her house at Dhran­gaon village, 50km away from Jalgaon, with the daughter of neighbour Nemilal Patil while her parents, who are employed as farm hands, were away at work. Seizing this opportunity, Patil asked his child to step out and allegedly raped the four-year-old.

When her parents returned home, they found the girl crying and bleeding. After the traumatised child recounted the horror, they rushed her to the City Civil Hospital at Jalgaon. A medical test revealed a ruptured hymen and that she had been raped.

Soon after, her parents approached the Dharangaon police, who registered a case against Patil under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code.

S Jaykumar, superintendent of police, Jalgaon, says Patil was arrested immediately after the case was registered. “After the medical report confirmed that the girl had been raped, we registered a case.” Doctors from the City Civil Hospital say her condition is stable.
Dr Shivraj Lalikar, surgeon, rules out the need for a surgery on the girl. “She is stable. Our paediatrician has already put her on an antibiotic treatment. She is being kept under observation for the next two days.”

Dr Ashmita Patil, former member of the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, pressed the need to deal with the case in a fast-track court.