Eight-month-old’s rape: Parents say accused wanted to adopt her

Two days after an eight-month-old girl was raped by her cousin in northwest Delhi's Shakurpur on Sunday, her outraged father said, "We almost lost our daughter to a man who always pretended to take care of her like his own daughter." He said he knew his nephew habitually indulged in teasing women and had tried to make him understand the error of his ways. "Who knew that he would end up doing this to his own sister, that too someone who is not even a year old!" he exclaimed.

Speaking to us on Tuesday at a hospital in central Delhi, the father revealed that things were so normal, with the family celebrating the elder daughter's birthday on Friday and the 28-year-old nephew playing an active role in the preparations. "When my daughter was born, he asked me to give her to him as he had lost his daughter two years ago. My refusal must have rankled him," he mused.

8-month-old baby critical after being raped by cousin in Delhi

On Sunday, like on most days, the parents left for work after breakfast. "We were free from worry when we left our baby in her cousin's care. He was jobless and stayed home most days," the father said. When the mother returned from work, she saw the nephew rushing out of the room, his shirt stained with blood. Frightened, she called out to him, but he ran out. In the room, she saw the shocking sight of the baby lying unconscious in a pool of blood.

On hearing the woman's screams, neighbours gathered at the spot and some said that they had seen the accused taking the baby into the room and had heard her crying a little later. They took the girl to hospital and informed the cops. Aslam Khan, DCP (Northwest), said on Monday that she underwent surgery on Monday night and is out of danger.
The accused has been arrested. The girl's father and his friends said that they had read about such cases, but never thought it would happen to them. According to Delhi Police data, in 96.6% of the rape cases reported in 2017, the accused were known to the victims, with 14.2% of them, in fact, being related to their victims.