‘I can still hear her screams’: Baby girl brutally raped by adult cousin, police say

The infant is currently on life support

An 8-month-old girl in Delhi, India, was reportedly seriously injured after being raped by her 28-year-old cousin.

The New York Times reports that the baby girl is in stable condition Tuesday after undergoing a three-hour operation. Police say the infant’s parents were working Sunday morning when a cousin, who was also watching their 2-year-old daughter, raped the baby.

The girls’ mother returned from work and reportedly discovered that the 8-month-old was bleeding between her legs. Her father told reporters that the bed she had been lying on was covered in blood, according to The Times.

Police told NDTV that the suspect was on the run for a short time before being arrested on Monday. The Press Times of India reported that the cousin has confessed to his crimes. Police said that a medical examination also confirmed that the infant was raped.

The father also told The Indian Express that he remains haunted by his daughter’s cries and screams. Now, he’s committed to getting justice for his infant child.

“My wife says she will never work again, and I don’t want her to work either. It’s not our fault but now we can’t leave our children alone for a minute … I will work overtime to earn more money,” he said.

Swati Maliwal, Chief of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), visited the baby at the hospital and said she was taken aback by the “complete systemic apathy” and how the community seems to remain unfazed by unsettling incidents of this nature.

“I can still hear her screams and cries. As DCW chief, I feel horrified at this abuse of a child, I feel as if I have been raped. She is on life support right now,” Maliwal told Al Jazeera.

Maliwal went on to blame police for not taking accountability and pushed for more forensic labs and special courts to combat this disturbing trend.

“In every case of child rape, we need to deliver the death penalty within six months of the crime. At present, cases drag on for years. There is no deterrence, no fear. The implementation of already existing laws is also terrible.”

 

[Featured Image: AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal]