Taken on joyride, 5-year-old raped by auto-rickshaw driver in

A five-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by an auto-rickshaw driver who beckoned her to accompany him for a joyride and dumped her at a secluded spot, battered and bruised, police said here on Saturday.

The incident took place in Kharua More locality of Sadar police station area late Friday night and the girl, who fell unconscious following the sexual assault, was undergoing treatment at a hospital while the accused has been arrested, said Babu Ram, Senior Superintendent of Police.

He said the girl was playing along with another three-year-old close to the place where the three-wheeler was parked and then they got onto the vehicle.

Sahni started the vehicle, telling the girls that he would take them for a joyride but soon dropped the three- year-old at a nearby spot before raping the survivor at a secluded place, the officer said.

The incident, coming close on the heels of charred bodies of unidentified woman, dumped after suspected rape and murder, being recovered in Buxar and Samastipur districts earlier this week, sparked outrage.

While Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi evaded queries from journalists in Patna on the incident, RJD leaders Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav vented their ire at the senior BJP leader, as well as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for rising incidence of crimes against women.

Prasad, who is in Ranchi serving sentences in fodder scam cases, shared the video clip of the deputy CM refusing to answer queries with a suggestive caption -- "Sush-ill Modi".

Rabri Devi, his wife, and Tejashwi Yadav - the younger son - tweeted accusing the state government of shielding culprits of the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal, which they claimed, has emboldened those with a proclivity to engage in sexual crimes.