Since the horrific rape and murder of the 25-year-old woman veterinarian in Telangana shook the country's conscience, another brutal case has come to the fore. A 9-year-old girl allegedly raped and murdered in Sulepeth police station limits in Karnataka. According to news agency ANI, the alleged crime took place near the police station.
Kalaburagi Superintendent of Police, Iada Martin Marbaniang said a case has been registered and investigation is underway.
On Monday too, a 6-year-old girl was abducted, raped and killed in Rajasthan's Tonk district. The incident was reported from Kheldi village of Aligarh town on Saturday.
The girl, a Class I student had left her home on Saturday to attend a sports event at her school. The family of the girl approached the police with a missing complaint later in the evening after she did not return home.
As the cops continued to look for her, some villagers spotted her body in the bushes in an isolated place. According to the police the girl was raped and then strangled to death using her school belt. The school belt was found tied around her neck when the body was discovered.
Under the amended Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, sexual assault on minors up to the age of 12 is a crime punishable by the death penalty. Though it was introduced as a measure to deter sexual assaults on children, those opposed to it have pointed out that even the threat of the death penalty has not stopped criminals from committing such heinous acts. They also argue that the criminals would resort to killing their victims to prevent them from being identified.
The incident in Tonk comes even as there is much anger in the country following the brutal gang rape and murder of a 27-year-old veterinary doctor on the outskirts of Hyderabad last week. The woman was returning home at night when the four accused punctured the tyre of her scooter and approached her on the pretext of helping her. She was then dragged away to an isolated place where she was raped repeatedly and killed. The accused then burnt her body at a different place and fled. There is a growing call for capital punishment for all the four accused in the case.