A 12-year-old girl, semi-naked and bleeding, was seen walking on the streets in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain. The minor was seeking help after she was allegedly raped and dumped near the city’s Dandi Ashram.

People stared at her but refused to help. One man was seen shooing her away as she approached him for help.

The visuals were captured on a CCTV camera in the area where she can be seen going door to door seeking help while bleeding and only partially clothed.

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Police found the injured girl on Monday evening near an ashram and took her to a local hospital, where she is undergoing treatment and is now said to be out of danger.

“The medical examination has confirmed rape. We have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and are closely following this. We appeal to the people to inform the police if they get any information,” Ujjain Superintendent of Police Sachin Sharma said, Indian Express reported.

According to police, the girl was not able to properly give them her name or address. They have accessed the CCTV footage and said they were trying to find out how the girl got there and where she was assaulted.

A case of rape against unidentified accused has been registered. The stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has also been invoked.

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Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath expressed his distress at the incident, and asked Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to sanction Rs 1 crore in relief for the victim and strict punishment to the accused.

Nath wrote on social media platform X, “It is heart-wrenching to see a case of extremely cruel abuse of a small girl in Ujjain. The kind of rape that happened to a 12-year-old daughter and the way she ran around in many areas of the city in a semi-nude state and then fell unconscious on the road, puts humanity to shame.”

Madhya Pradesh tops in crime against women, minors

The horrifying incident has yet again brought under the spotlight Madhya Pradesh’s dismal record on violence against women.

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Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have reported the highest number of cases of disappearance of women and girls between 2019 and 2021. Also, Madhya Pradesh reported most incidents of rapes in the country in 2021 – 6,462 – as per the National Crime Records Bureau data. Out of them, more than 50 per cent were crimes against minors. The number translates to 18 rapes per day.