Five-year-old dies after suspected rape in Ahmednagar

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A five-year-old girl from a Dalit family died after allegedly being raped in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, police said Sunday. The incident at Karegaon village, 58 km from here, led to protests by Dalit organisations in parts of the district.

According to police, the girl and her sister went outside their home to relieve themselves Saturday afternoon. After they returned, the girl suddenly took ill. She was taken to Kamgar Hospital at Shrirampur where she was declared dead, said Sub Divisional Police Officer Somnath Waghchaure.

The doctors informed the police that the girl could have been sexually assaulted as there were small injuries to her private parts.

Police sent the body for autopsy and registered a case of rape and culpable homicide not amounting to murder under the IPC against unidentified culprits, the police officer said.

The girl's parents are daily wagers. Dalit organisations gave a call for shut-down in Shrirampur Sunday to protest the incident. Many shops and commercial establishments in the town remained closed.