Bhopal:

A five-year-old in Madhya Pradesh is battling for her life after a horrific sexual assault. Doctors at Gwalior’s Kamala Raja Hospital said she needed 28 stitches in her private parts, and an operation for colostomy. The accused is a 17-year-old who has been arrested and is being tried as a juvenile, the police said.  

The police said the accused, apparently drunk at the time, had slammed her head against a wall several times and then brutalised her. Apart from the head injuries, her body and private parts bore multiple cuts and scratches and bite marks. 

The child, whom doctors stabilised after a two-hour operation, is still critical. Though she is conscious, she has not spoken since the assault, which took place five days ago. 

The child, a resident of Shivpuri, had gone missing on February 23. She was found almost two hours later on the terrace of a house in the neighbourhood, unconscious and covered in blood. 

Her family has called for death sentence of the accused. “He should be shout openly on the road,” her mother said.

Angry locals, backed by political parties, have held protests and demonstrations in the area. 

aThe unprecedented brutality has wiped out political barriers. Leaders of the Congress and the BJP have asked for a fast-track court and death penalty for the accused. The leaders have submitted a memorandum to the district administration.