Man held for sexually assaulting minor girl in Delhi

A 27-year-old man was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl in northwest Delhi's Shalimar Bagh area, police said on Wednesday.

The accused was identified as Salim Ahmed, a resident of Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh, they said.

On Sunday, the nine-year-old girl stepped out of her house to buy something when Ahmed met her and offered to buy her clothes. The girl went with him and he sexually assaulted her, the police said.

The girl narrated her ordeal to her parents after she returned home. She did not tell anything to the police or the counsellor. A medical examination of the girl confirmed sexual assault, a senior police officer said.

Thereafter, a case was registered under sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping), 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act at Shalimar Bagh police station, the officer said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (northwest) Usha Rangnani said it was a blind case since the victim did not know the accused.

"We scanned the footage of around 300 to 350 CCTV cameras to identify the route through which the accused took the girl with him. Local intelligence was also activated and Ahmed was arrested on Tuesday from Wazirpur area," she said.

During interrogation, it was revealed that Ahmed took the girl to a shanty near the railway line where he sexually assaulted her, the police said.

The accused, who sometimes works as a sweeper in factories, was also arrested in a criminal case in UP's Rampur. He had tested positive for Covid-19 and was admitted to a hospital from where he escaped and reached Delhi, they said.

Another case under Section 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) of the IPC was registered against him at Azim Nagar police station in Rampur in connection with his escape, they said.