Two young girls, aged two and five, have been raped in separate incidents in Delhi, sparking protests over police inaction. The two-year-old was abducted from a religious event in west Delhi on Friday night by two men, who raped her before leaving her in a nearby park. A crowd of more than 100 people gathered near her home on Saturday to protest the lack of arrests.
In a separate attack in east Delhi, a five-year-old girl was lured to a neighbour's house with sweets and raped by three men. Police have arrested three suspects in that case, and tests confirmed she was raped multiple times. Both girls are receiving medical treatment.
Delhi has seen a surge in sexual assaults against women and children, drawing outrage locally and internationally. The Delhi Commission for Women chair, Swati Maliwal, described violence against women as having reached 'epidemic proportions'. Delhi's chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, called the attacks 'shameful and worrying', criticising the central government's handling of security.
Political tensions have complicated the response, with Kejriwal's administration and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government vying for control of Delhi's police force. Ranjana Kumari of the Centre for Social Research noted that most incidents occur in low-income areas, where cramped living conditions and lack of social control contribute to a climate of impunity.
