A minor girl has again been raped in the city, the sixth such case reported in last two months. The child who went missing on Tuesday afternoon was found on Wednesday morning in a garbage heap near her house in Yerawada. The two-and-a-half-year-old child belongs to a middle class family.

Assistant police inspector Machhindra Dangade said the girl had gone missing around 4 pm on Tuesday. “She was found naked and in unconscious state in the garbage dump behind JJ Apartments in Yerawada, close to her residence, around 7 am on Wednesday,” he said. Her mother had lodged a complaint with the Yerawada police station on Wednesday.

“The girl was taken to Sassoon Hospital for treatment. We have booked unknown culprit under Section 363 (kidnapping) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code,” he said. He added that the girl is out of danger and the police hope to get a breakthrough soon. The victim’s father works with a private firm and her mother is a housewife.

Anuradha Sahasrabuddhe, a child rights activist and founder-director of NGO Childline, said out of the 20,000 calls that they receive each month from children, nearly 2,000 calls concern sexual abuse. “When the government mooted the idea of sex education it should have been understood that it is not a one-time thing. It should be an ongoing process both for urban and rural areas. Children and parents should understand that gender-based issues should be discussed and knowledge of body parts needs to be shared to prevent such incidences,” she said.

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