Abduction and rape of 7 year-old sparks mass rioting in Jaipur, India

Over 160 vehicles have been torched amid mass unrest in Jaipur, the capital of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Rioters are demanding the arrest and punishment of a man who kidnapped and raped a 7-year-old girl.

Though the government too harsh measures, such as shutting down the internet in numerous police districts to stop the spread of rumors and arresting 16 people, the enraged crowd continued to smash windows and burn vehicles on Tuesday.

Jaipur Police Commissioner Anand Srivastava told reporters that several officers had been injured in the melee, adding that action would be taken against those who spread rumors in order to fan the flames of public discontent.

After the victim was found near her house on Monday, bleeding profusely with injuries on her forehead, she was immediately taken to the hospital where she was declared to be in stable condition, having suffered minor wounds and abrasions on her genitals.

“The culprit lured the girl from near her house into a vehicle around 8 pm yesterday and raped her. After two hours, he dropped her at the same spot from where she was picked up,” he said. Local media indicates that the perpetrator managed to abduct the girl by motorcycle by telling her he was a family friend.

Rioting began shortly after she was found, when a large crowd gathered outside the hospital, leading authorities to call for additional police deployment to try to control the mob. Rioters quickly surrounded a police station, destroying multiple vehicles and pelting the police who tried to disperse them with rocks.

Officials were also emotional over the disturbing incident. State transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyavas visited the girl in the hospital, later saying that the perpetrator of the “heinous crime... should be hanged” andassuring the public the police were making every effort to nab the criminal. He also demanded citizens stop trying to take matters into their own hands.

“We all are trying to arrest the accused soon. There is just no space for people committing such crimes in our society,” he said.

This is not the first instance of public unrest following the rape of a minor in India this year. Last month, police officers and a government official were found guilty in the 2018 rape and murder of an 8-year-old in the Kashua district of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir. In May, a case involving the rape of a 3-year-old in the same region led to a citywide strike and clashes with police.

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