An Indian man has been arrested for reportedly sexually assaulting a 2-year-old toddler and throwing her into a saltwater fish tank in a fish processing plant following the ordeal, after luring her with a piece of chocolate in Karnataka, India on Sunday, Oct. 31.
The accused, identified as Chandan, 38, who works as a laborer in a fish processing unit in the city, allegedly enticed the child by offering her chocolates but then proceeded to rape the toddler after gaining her trust. After the assault, he proceeded to leave her vulnerable in a saltwater tank, the Indian Express reported.
On Monday, Nov. 1, after receiving information regarding a toddler who had been left to drown in a large unattended aquarium, officers from the nearby police station rushed to the hospital where the child was being treated. After inquiring details from the doctors and hospital staff, the officers discovered that the toddler had suffered multiple injuries consistent with sexual assault.
The incident reportedly happened between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday evening, Oct. 31, while the child's parents had stepped out of their residence to purchase a fan. When the parents returned home after purchasing the fan, they realized that their child had gone missing and searched for the toddler for about two hours. Hours later, at around 9 p.m., they found their child lying unconscious in the fish tank inside the processing plant and rushed her to the nearby hospital for treatment, the Times Of India reported.
After officers enquired around the area, the people working at the fish processing plant said that they saw Chandan carrying the child at around 4 p.m. on the day of the incident. Following this, local residents nabbed and mauled the accused before handing him over to the police.
Chandan subsequently confessed to the crime. He has been booked under relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
In a similar but unrelated incident, a 67-year-old man was reportedly arrested for sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl in Pune, India.
On Oct. 4, the victim, a 5-year-old girl, who was playing with the accused’s grandchildren, was lured by the accused on the pretext of showing her a guava garden. However, the accused took her to his farm and sexually assaulted her, Hindustan Times reported.
Following the assault, the accused threatened the child not to inform anyone about the incident. However, the next day, when the victim experienced pain in the wounds that she suffered during the assault, she narrated the ordeal to her grandmother.
The accused has been arrested and a case under relevant Sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act have been registered against him.
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