Security forces had to be deployed in the Loni area of Ghaziabad when residents went on a rampage following reports that a child had been sexually assaulted by a neighbor, who happens to belong to the minority community.
The seven-year-old girl’s family claims she had been raped by 60-year-old Syed Mohammed. The man forcibly entered the house when the child’s mother and sister were away and assaulted her, her aunt said.
Police say the case appears to be one of molestation. The child did not require hospitalisation. But she has undergone a medical test and the report is awaited. A First Information Report, or FIR, for rape, however, has been filed.
The accused is absconding.
The angry residents, who had heard reports that the girl had died, held protests and damaged a police vehicle.
But following the deployment of security forces in the area, the situation has calmed down. The shops, which were closed in the morning, opened by the afternoon.
