Man Rapes 5-Year-Old Girl In Field, Strangles Her To Death For Screaming

In a horrific incident in India, a 5-year-old was allegedly raped and killed Sunday night when she was in a field with her family.

The police said the accused was hiding in the bushes, and on seeing the girl, he allegedly pounced on her and raped her. When the girl began screaming to raise an alarm, the unidentified man strangled her to death, the Times of India reported.

The girl lived in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district.

On the day of the incident, the girl was with her parents in a field collecting wheat. When she suddenly went missing, her parents began looking for the girl in nearby areas. During the search, the family found the man along with the girl's body, the police said, according to Outlook India. The victim's family and other villagers thrashed the man before handing him over to the police.

The accused, who is in his mid-twenties, belonged to Udham Singh Nagar, located in the state of Uttarakhand. He was reportedly brought to a religious place in the Badaun district for some kind of treatment, but he ran away, the police said. It remains unclear what he was getting treated for.

Authorities said the victim's body was sent for an autopsy, and an investigation is underway into the assault.

“A case has been registered against the accused under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act and Sections 302 and other relevant sections of the IPC (Indian Penal Code),” senior police officer Sankalp Sharma said, according to Free Press Journal.

In India, crime against women has been increasing over the years. India recorded 88 rape cases every day in 2019, according to a National Crime Records Bureau report released last year. There have been several rape cases recently in India, where the victims have been minor girls.

In a recent incident, a 6-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by her grandfather and uncle. The crime was committed in front of her toddler brother, police said. The assault took place in the state of Madhya Pradesh last week. The police said the accused bribed the girl with snacks and 30 cents to remain silent.