Indore: A nine-year-old girl was raped in a kids’ zone of a mall in Indore. The accused, an employee at the kids’ zone, was beaten up by the agitated parents and handed over to the police. The rape of a child, even as some of the children were playing a few feet away, has triggered demands of police verification of all the people employed at the kids’ playing zone in Indore. The eyewitnesses said that they had seen 19-year-old Arjun Rathore taking away the child in some corner. The parents of the other children caught Rathore when they saw the 9-year-old crying and screaming. “I noticed the girl being led away. After a while, we saw her screaming. She was bleeding. I helped her reach her mother and then went with her to the police station as well,” an eyewitness told Times of India.
The victim had gone to the mall with her mother and younger brother. The kids’ mother went out to shop leaving the children to play in the kids’ zone. Rathore allegedly lured the girl away. Her brother was told to stay back when he tried to follow them.
Some other parents helped the child find her mother and told her about the assault. Parents of the other children thrashed the accused after witnesses and the victim identified him. He was later handed over to the police.
“There were so many children around. Should we be scared to take our children to gaming zones now?” her uncle asked. The victim has been sent for a medical examination. “The accused, a resident of Panchsheel Nagar, has been booked for rape under POCSO and IPC.
