Indian police say toddler, 5-year-old raped in New Delhi

NEW DELHI — Two young girls — a toddler and a 5-year-old — have been raped in separate attacks in New Delhi, police said Saturday, in the latest incidents of sexual violence against girls and women in India.

A 2 1/2-year-old girl who was playing outside her home was raped in a west Delhi suburb Friday evening, said Delhi Police deputy superintendent Pushpendra Kumar. Family members found the child lying unconscious and bleeding in a park three hours after she went missing during a power outage in the neighborhood.

Police have detained a few men but have not yet made any arrests in the incident, Kumar said.

Meanwhile, police said they were questioning three men arrested in the gang-rape of the 5-year-old Friday evening in east Delhi.

Both girls were in stable condition at hospitals, police said.

The rapes occurred a week after a 4-year-old girl was found dumped near a railway track after being raped and slashed with a blade.

A series of recent attacks has renewed public fury and horror over India's inability to halt chronic violence against women and girls.

In December 2012, the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old medical student on a moving bus led to a national outcry. In response to that attack, the government doubled the maximum prison term for rape to 20 years, created special courts to prosecute cases more quickly, and made voyeurism and acid attacks specific crimes under the law.

India's National Crime Records Bureau says more than 2,000 girls and women were raped in New Delhi in 2014.