19-year-old relative rapes toddler in front of her 5-year-old brother

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In a shocking incident, a 19-year-old man allegedly raped a one-and-a-half-year-old girl in front of her five-year-old brother at Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal district. The toddler is battling for her life at a hospital in the Damoh district.

The accused is a distant relative of the victim and visiting them when their parents were away for work, a police officer said.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Damoh's additional police superintendent Shivkumar Singh said, "The girl was admitted to a district hospital where her condition is stated to be serious. The accused is a distant relative of the victim's father."

Singh said that the accused had come to visit the family on Saturday night and the alleged incident took place on Sunday. "...[He] raped her as the mother of the victim had gone to a market and father had gone to a factory. When the mother returned after 15 minutes, her daughter was writhing in pain and there were bloodstains on her clothes while her son was in a state of shock," Singh said.

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He further added, "The son told his mother that...[the accused] hurt her. The victim's mother informed her husband and took the girl to a nearby hospital where the doctor confirmed the rape and referred her to the district hospital."

The accused was arrested on Sunday and booked under the Indian Penal Code's Section 376 (rape) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Police officials said the accused confessed to raping the girl.

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