Cuttack: A six-year-old rape victim died at in a Cuttack hospital on April 29 after battling for life for eight days.
She passed away in the evening, Shyama Kanungo, superintendent of SCB Medical College and Hospital, told reporters. The body would be handed over to the victim’s family in the presence of police personnel following a post-mortem, she added.
The girl was rescued in a critical condition on April 21 from a school campus in Jagannathpur village in Cuttack district.
She had deep injuries on her head, face, neck and in her private parts.
The village is located at a distance of about 30 km east of Cuttack.
On April 22, police arrested a 25-year-old man of the village in connection with the incident and remanded him to judicial custody on charges of rape and attempt to murder under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
“Since the victim has died, the attempt to murder charge will be converted to murder charge,” Salepur police inspector D K Mallick said.
A 13-member team of senior doctors attended to the victim, who was kept in the ICU, the hospital superintendent said.
The condition of the girl did not improve even after she was put on ventilator support, she added. Her condition deteriorated on April 26.
Since her condition was not stable during the last 72 hours, it was not possible to shift her to a better facility, the doctors treating the girl said.
The girl had gone to a shop in the village to buy biscuits. When she did not return after a while, the family members had launched a search.
She was finally found inside the school campus in an unconscious state, with no clothes on her body and blood oozing out of her head and mouth.
She was taken to a private nursing home nearby and later, shifted to the SCB Medical College and Hospital.