INDIA has been left shocked to its core following two horrific attacks that left an eight-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl dead.
The eight-year-old girl was horrifically gang-raped and bludgeoned to death with a rock, while the 13-year-old girl had her eyes gouged out in a torturous attack.
AlamyThe horrific attack on the eight-year-old girl took place in the city of Rajkot in the western state of Gujarat[/caption]
The attacks are just the latest in a long line of horrific violence against girls and women in the country.
Police in Rajkot, a city of two million people in the western state of Gujarat, said the eight-year-old girl’s body was found in an isolated spot behind a railway station on Saturday.
The force said it has arrested three people accused of kidnapping, raping and bludgeoning the unnamed child on Monday.
CCTV footage of the incident revealed that the girl had been playing near her house before being lured into a bush by one of the attackers.
The other two men soon joined them and gagged the child before taking turns raping her.
Additional Commissioner of Police, Vidhi Chaudhary, revealed that the men attacked her before “bashing her head in with a stone.”
He added that the men killed the girl because they worked in the same factory as her father and were afraid that she would tell him what happened.
Two of the alleged attackers reportedly fled the city after the body was found, fearing arrest.
In Baertilly, the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the 13-year-old girl’s body was found in a cane field after she went missing on her way home from school.
A senior police officer told the Times of India that her attacker had gagged the young girl’s mouth with mud, pierced her eyes with sugarcane stalks and tortured her.
An autopsy is underway to determine whether or not she was raped.
“We have seen bruises near her private parts and samples have been taken for confirmation of sexual assault through lab tests,” said a member of the autopsy team.
“There were seven deep wounds on the girl’s body. She must have gone through enormous pain. She was definitely tortured before murder.”
In a statement from Senior police officer Naipal Singh, it was confirmed that “four teams” are working on the case.
Mr Singh said: “The case is taken up on priority and senior officials are monitoring the investigation.
“Four teams are working on the leads and the forensic team is collecting evidence.
“We are taking support from the surveillance team and anti-social elements of the area under the scanner. We are hoping for a breakthrough soon.”
Violence against women and girls in India has risen dramatically in the last decade.
According to reports, an average of 87 new rape cases opened every single day last year.
AlamyPolice have arrested three people accused of kidnapping, raping and bludgeoning the unnamed eight-year-old in Rajkot on Monday.[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
