Delhi HC expresses concern over gang-rape of child

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Thursday expressed concern over the gang-rape of a five-year-old girl child saying "something somewhere is wrong" and wondered whether "people are going mad".

"It is surprising what is happening in Delhi. Something somewhere is wrong," said a division bench of Chief Justice D. Murugesan and Justice Jayant Nath.

"Are people going mad? A five-year-old has been raped... Some sort of awareness is needed," the court observed.

The five-year-old girl was abducted and kept captive for two days without food and water in the room in which the attackers lived on the ground floor of a building in east Delhi's Gandhi Nagar. The girl's family stays in the same building.

The girl was rescued when the family members heard her screams April 17.

"Now we have to see how to prevent this type of crime and for that we have to find out the root cause," the court said.

"Everybody is very sad what is happening in Delhi. It's a frequent thing here."

"Most of the accused belong to neighbouring states. How to prevent this," the court asked while suggesting that the government should screen the people coming to the national capital from various states.

The bench also said that there was an "urgent" need to sensitise the police and directed the government to take necessary steps in this direction.

"Sensitisation of police is more important," the court observed.