Two juveniles held over Delhi toddler's rape

Two juveniles were detained on Sunday in connection with the gang-rape of a toddler in Delhi's Nangloi area, a police official said.

The two-and-half-year-old was kidnapped from near her home and raped by two teenagers during a sudden power outage in the area on Friday night. She was found at a nearby Talab Wala park early Saturday.

Both the accused, aged about 17 years, live in the same neighbourhood and were known to the girl's family, police said.

"Eighteen teams were formed in this case and around 250 locals were questioned throughout the night, after which the police zeroed in on a few and later the accused juveniles were apprehended," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Pushpendra Kumar.

A case under Section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered on Saturday.

The detained juveniles, however, did not turn out to be the ones whose image was captured on a CCTV camera. In the footage, repeatedly flashed by several TV news channels, two people were seen carrying a girl child on a motorbike.

The two men, earlier identified, turned out to be locals travelling on the motorbike with the daughter of one of the two riders. They were not related to the incident, police said.

Meanwhile, it was yet to be verified whether only one of the accused juveniles raped the girl or both took turns, Kumar added. "Though the investigation is still underway, during a sustained interrogation they (accused) admitted the crime."

The accused juveniles and the victim were at a Ramlila event in the neighbourhood on Friday night, police said.

The small child, meanwhile, is undergoing treatment at the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital.