An auto-rickshaw driver detained during the probe was arrested on Thursday for allegedly raping and brutalising a 12-year-old girl in Ujjain, police said. According to SP Sachin Sharma, the incident unfolded when a police team was taking the accused to the crime scene to reconstruct the events that led to the rape of the minor girl. Soni reportedly made a sudden dash for freedom, leading to a scuffle with police officials.
The incident left both Soni and police officials injured.
“In the process of recreating the crime scene, the accused, Bharat Soni, tried to run away. This led to a physical altercation during which he sustained injuries, and some of our police officials also got injured,” said SP Sharma. “Necessary action is being taken in the case.”
The auto-rickshaw driver was taken into custody on the basis of video footage and blood stains found on the passenger seat, police had said.
The girl was found bleeding on a road in Mahakal police station limits in Ujjain on Monday. She was taken to a hospital where a medical examination found that she had been raped. The case has sent shockwaves through the country after reports suggested that no one came to her aid for more than two hours as she wandered on the Ujjain streets seeking help.
The girl is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Indore.
She was operated upon by a team of specialist doctors at the Government Maharaja Tukojirao Holkar Women’s Hospital on Wednesday.
Dr Divya Gupta, a member of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) who visited the hospital said that the condition of the girl was improving, but she will take a long time to recover from the mental trauma.
“The girl has lost a lot of blood and has undergone a major surgery. She has been given two bottles of blood so far. But with the treatment, her condition is gradually improving,” Gupta, a gynaecologist herself, told PTI.
“We have given strict instructions to the administration that no outsider should be allowed to meet the girl as she gets upset whenever she sees any stranger. She gestures that the person leave the room immediately,” Gupta said.
