4-Year-Old Girl Kidnapped and Sexually Assaulted in Hooghly: Police Investigation Underway

A four-year-old girl was kidnapped while sleeping beside her grandmother on Friday night and subsequently sexually assaulted in Hooghly near Kolkata, according to police reports.

The victim, reportedly from the Banjara community, was resting on a cot under a mosquito net at the Railway shed in Tarakeshwar, as stated by a senior officer from Hooghly rural police.

Family members claim the perpetrator cut through the child's mosquito net before abducting her.

The child was discovered the following afternoon in a pool of blood near the Tarakeswar railway high drain.

"She was sleeping with me. Around 4 am, someone took her away. I didn't even realize when she was taken. I don't know who the people were who took her away. They cut the mosquito net and took her away. She was found naked," recounted the girl's grandmother, displaying the damaged net.

"We live on the streets because they have demolished our houses. Where do we go? We don't have any homes," she added with tears welling up.

An individual was apprehended in connection with the case on Sunday morning.

The victim, whose condition is described as critical, is currently receiving medical treatment at a Tarakeswar hospital.

Authorities have registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).

The BJP criticized the Mamata Banerjee government, claiming that police were refusing to file an FIR in the case.

"4-year old girl child has been raped in Tarkeshwar. Family rushes to Police Station, but FIR not registered! Taken to the Hospital - referred to Chandannagar. Tarkeshwar Police busy burying the Crime. This is the True Face of Mamata Banerjee's free-for-all regime. A child's life is shattered, yet the Police are shielding the State's Fake Law & Order Image, by suppressing the truth," Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of Opposition in Bengal, posted on X.