Police nab habitual offender over Jaipur rape

The Rajasthan police claim to have arrested a habitual offender in connection with the abduction and alleged rape of a seven-year-old girl in Shastri Nagar area, six days ago.

The police said that the man had a history of sexual crimes and was accused in at least four cases of sexual violence.

At a press conference, Jaipur Police Commissioner Anand Srivastava said that Sikandar alias Jivanu (35) was awarded life imprisonment in 2004 over unnatural sex and murder of an 11-year-old boy.

After his release from the jail in 2015, he allegedly committed several crimes, including molestation of two minor girls in Bhatta Basti in 2017. According to the commissioner, Sikandar was involved in as many as dozen crimes before his 2004 conviction and after his release. He was also found responsible for the rape of a four-year-girl in the same locality on June 22.

The police nabbed the accused in Kota on Saturday night, five days after the crime took place, when he was meeting a tea-stall owner in Bhimganj Mandi area of Kota.

Around 12 police teams were deployed to trace him. "Since he was a habitual offender. We were not much dependent on the CCTV footage, a strong network of police informers helped us," Srivastava added. The accused was brought to Jaipur later.

Sikandar had allegedly abducted the girl on a motorcycle from her house on July 1 night and took her to a deserted place where he raped her. He later dropped her back near her house. On Monday, she was taken to a J K Lone hospital, where the tests confirmed the rape. Before shifting to J K Lone, she was referred to the Kanwatia hospital, where the protests took place.

The Rajasthan government on Tuesday gave a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the girl. On Wednesday, deputy CM Sachin Pilot visited the victim in hospital.

The incident had led to tension and violent protests, during which a police station was surrounded and a large number of vehicles were vandalised. To ensure that law and order are maintained, police had suspended mobile internet services for five days in the major localities of Jaipur.