Students from different colleges forming human chain with the message of ‘Stop Child Sexual Abuse’.
| Photo Credit: A.M. Faruqui
Protests were held in Madhya Pradesh’s Raisen district on Monday (November 24, 2025) over the rape of a six-year-old girl even as multiple police teams continue to search for the accused who remains at large for three days.
According to the police, the incident took place on the evening of November 21 in Paanjara village under Gauharganj police station limits, when the girl was playing in a house in her neighbourhood and the accused lured her with treats. The accused has been identified as Salman, 23, a native of Sehore district.
Raised Superintendent of Police (SP) Pankaj Pandey told The Hindu that the accused lured the girl and took her to a nearby forest where he raped her. The accused then fled the scene while the girl returned home crying while her parents were also looking for her.
The girl was taken to a government hospital in neighbouring Obaidullaganj but was immediately referred to AIIMS, Bhopal where she is undergoing treatment.
“She had injuries on her body, including private parts. But she is now out of danger and has been moved out of the ICU. The doctors are still monitoring her health,” Mr. Pandey said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of locals as well as members of outfits like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal staged a demonstration in parts of the district and blockaded the national highway, NH-45, in Mandideep between Bhopal and Raisen.
The protest led to a kilometres-long traffic jam on the highway for several hours as the protestors demanded death penalty for the accused and suspension of local health officials. The locals have alleged that the government’s 108 ambulance service was not available and the child’s family had to arrange a private vehicle to take her to Bhopal.
The blockade ended only after assurances from senior government and police officials.
The SP said that at least 15 police teams are currently raiding Salman’s previous accommodations and locations linked to him in Raisen, Bhopal and Sehore districts. The police have also analysed hundreds of CCTV footage to trace the accused’s movements, he added.
“He had been living in Gauharganj for only three months for labour work. For some time, he had been visiting the girl’s neighbourhood and used to give her candies and chocolates to make a contact,” Mr. Pandey said, adding that an extensive search operation was also conducted in the nearby forests, involving 100 personnel, drones and dog squads.
He said that an FIR was filed in the case under provisions of rape and abduction of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Published – November 24, 2025 10:27 pm IST
