BENGALURU: A traumatised 3-year-old girl was found sitting alone, frightened and in a state of shock in a graveyard in the city by her frantic parents on Monday morning, after they had spent a sleepless Sunday night searching for their child, with the heavy rains making the search that much more difficult.
Police believe that the child may have been the victim of an ‘attempt to rape’ by a painter known to her parents, both of whom are labourers from Uttar Pradesh. A manhunt is on for Sandeep, 28, who has gone missing since Sunday.
The child’s parents claim that the 3-year-old was last seen with the painter, a neighbour, whom the victim’s family had befriended as he was from UP. She was playing near a shed when the accused took her to a nearby shop, under the pretext of buying chocolates.
The parents who were at work did’t notice until much later that evening that their daughter had not returned. When the parents collared Sandeep, he allegedly told them that he had left the child near the shed to play after he had bought her sweets.
The girl was found at 9.30 am on Monday by a neighbour in a graveyard. Police have taken the victim for a medical examination. “All protocols for a POCSO have been followed,” said a police officer.
