Three-Year-Old Girl Gets Raped Inside A Bus In India While Brother Pleads For Attacker To Leave Her Alone

A three-year-old girl was lured inside a parked bus where she was allegedly brutally raped by the bus cleaner, according to reports. As if that’s not bad enough, her five-year-old brother helplessly begged for the assailant to leave her sister alone.

The incident happened in Canal West Road in Kolkata, India on Monday, police reports stated. The girl is now confined and receiving treatment at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, after the alleged rapist, 45-year-old Sheikh Munna, forced himself into her.

As reported by the Times of India, the victim was with her brother playing when Munna allegedly lured the girl into the bus using chocolates. The brother saw what was being done to his sister so he pleaded to Munna to open the bus door and let her go when he heard her scream. The boy banged the bus door repeatedly but the assault went on. He then ran to his mother to tell her what’s happening.

The children’s mother, a widow who works as a rag-picker, called her neighbors for help. The people then ran toward the bus to rescue the little girl from her attacker. Before bringing Munna to the police, neighbors beat up the suspect. It was a horrific sight to see as police found the girl “lying in a pool of blood on a bus seat.”

The girl had her clothes torn and was bleeding heavily. Munna was also found to have blood on his trousers and hands when police apprehended him.

Doctors at the hospital said that the girl arrived bleeding heavily, the report continued. A senior officer of Kolkata police said that forensic experts have already obtained samples from the alleged crime scene and had it analyzed. The accused is also being interrogated as police continue waiting for the test results that should confirm that the young girl has been raped.

Rape of a young girl, unfortunately, comes as no surprise in India where these cases are rampant. Early this year, reports of an eight-month-old infant raped by her cousin shocked the world. A survey conducted by World Vision India, the results of which were revealed in 2017, showed that one in every two children is sexually abused. One out of five children doesn’t feel safe because of the fear of becoming a victim of the heinous crime. What’s more heartbreaking is that one out of four families refuses to report the incident to authorities.

Despite the alarming number of cases of sexual abuse in children, this serious issue is not being discussed enough and people are willing to remain silent about it. In some parts of India, getting raped is considered a dishonor and the victim and her family are usually shunned by the community.

World Vision India is continuing its work to put a stop to the rape culture in the country. The humanitarian aid organization already launched a campaign with a mission to end child sexual abuse by 2021.