Indian rape victim fighting for life

A five-year-old Indian girl is fighting for her life after being allegedly raped by a male neighbor in the Indian capital New Delhi.

Indian police said on Friday that the girl was kidnapped on Monday and sexually assaulted in a locked room in the capital for more than two days.

The girl is in a critical condition at a city hospital where she was admitted for treatment on Thursday. A day earlier, she was rescued by a passer-by who heard her cries.

“The girl was traumatized when she was brought to us. There were injuries to her lips, cheeks and chest wall. There were bruises on her neck,” said R.N. Bansal, chief of Swami Dayanand hospital.

The girl’s relatives and hundreds of political activists gathered outside the hospital in eastern New Delhi and protested against the inhuman act.

The girl’s rape revived memories of the horrific gang rape by six men of a 23-year-old medical student on a moving bus on December 16, 2012 in New Delhi. She succumbed to her injuries in a hospital in Singapore on December 29.

The horrific nature of the crime shocked Indians, who have thronged the streets on an almost daily basis since the incident, demanding protection for women and capital punishment for rape, which currently carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.