A 9-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and was raped in front of her minor brother by a male acquaintance in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhind district, while the duo was on its way back home from school on Tuesday, police reported on Wednesday.

According to police, the incident took place in the area falling under the jurisdiction of Mehgaon police station, and the accused was arrested after the crime.

Survivor girl a student of Class 4

Police said the survivor girl is a student of Class 4, who was returning home with her elder brother, enrolled in Class 6. During this, the accused (21), stopped them and offered them a ride on his bike. However, instead of dropping the duo to their house, he took them to a secluded area, where he violated the girl in front of her brother, and the sibling was forced to watch the harrowing scene.

When the girl’s brother tried to protest and intervene, the accused bashed him up and fled the scene thereafter. By this time, the survivor girl lost consciousness, following which her brother quickly sprinted towards his home to alert the family. Family members rushed to the spot and found the girl lying there. They took her to the hospital immediately.

Accused arrested in less than 24 hrs

Medical experts confirmed that the girl had been sexually assaulted, after which the family lodged a complaint at the Mehgaon police station. The city’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Suraj Verma said multiple police teams had been constituted to trace and apprehend the accused.

The cops emerged successful in swooping down on him in less than 24 hours, and are now examining his criminal antecedents.

2nd such incident in MP in less than a week

The Bhind case is the second of its kind over the past six days in Madhya Pradesh. Six days ago, a Class 3 girl returning from school was picked up by his neighbour Annu Yadav (28) in Narsinghpur’s Gotegaon area. The accused took her to a jungle, raped her and strangled her to death. Within 24 hours of the recovery of the girl’s body, the police laid hands on the accused.

Both the incidents come amid a steep spike in crimes against children across India. According to the NCRB 2024 report, 1.87 lakh cases of crimes against children were registered across the country in 2024, marking a 6% rise as compared to 2023. POCSO Act cases alone accounted for 69,191 cases (37% of the total involving 70,132 child victims).

Additionally, more than 44,000 of these cases were registered under Sections 4 and 6 of the Act, which deal with penetrative and aggravated penetrative sexual assault, constituting the law’s gravest offences.