Sunil Rastogi, a 38-year-old tailor from Uttar Pradesh only took the Sampark Kranti Express once every week to travel to Delhi. He only wore his 'lucky' red jacket and travelled only on odd dates.
Scarily enough, he would chant mantras before getting on the train so his 'hunt' would be successful.
Once in the capital, he would prey on schoolgirls aged between 7 and 11 years. And, after allegedly raping or sexually assaulting them in deserted areas on the pretext of giving them new clothes, he would then leave for home.
His 'hunt' continued for 13 years, till one day a young schoolgirl broke her silence.
No. This is not a scene from Crime Patrol. This is what actually happened in Delhi for almost 13 years reportedly to close to 500 girls, who fell prey to this peodophile.
Finally caught by the police
But thankfully, on Saturday (January 14), this merciless assaulter from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, was finally caught by the police from Delhi's Kalyanpuri area.
By his own admission, Rastogi claimed to have assaulted close to 2,500 minor girls. He also admitted to being jailed for six months Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, in 2006.
Omvir Bishnoi, DCP East Delhi, shared the chilling details, which the accused shared with them.
"The accused told police that he used to target minor girls. Whenever he would find any minor girl going to home from school, he used to mislead her on the pretext that her father had sent some clothes or some other articles to give her and take her to an isolated place," said Bishnoi.
The police added that the accused was caught after two families registered cases on January 10, of sexual assault on their daughters ages 10 and 9 and the hunt for this 'superstitious' criminal started.
Rastogi was a serial assaluter
The police also shared that Rastogi already had three cases registered against him- reportedly "three in Delhi, two in Rudrapur and one in Bilaspur district." In fact, in 2004, he and his entire family was thrashed by residents in Mayur Vihar, after he was caught sexually assaulting a neighbour's daughter.
And although it's surprising that the police could not nab the criminal before, they did admit that they could do so now because of a similar patter of assault.
“In all the three cases, victims were minors in the age group of 9-10 and it was also revealed that the accused first misled the minors by telling them that their father had given some clothes or articles for them and then he took them to isolated place where he allegedly tried to sexually assault them," the officer told the media.
When the families registered the cases, CCTV footage of the areas close to where he committed the crime, helped nab Rastogi. “He resides in Rudrapur now. He studied up to fifth standard at government school in his village. He is being interrogated regarding other offences committed by him at different places,” he police told the media.
This case has come as a shocking reminder of how unsafe delhi has become, not just for women, but for so many young girls. And while these girls mustered up the courage to tell their parents about the assault, many girls are still unable to share their ordeal. So how would the parents know?
Well, we spoke to criminal psychologist Anuja Kapur who shared some insight into how to identify sexual assault.
How can parents identify sexual assault?
"Abuse means 'treating with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly.' Child abuse is more than bruises and broken bones. Physical abuse is more corporeal in nature but emotional and sexual abuse is incorporeal. They leave deep psychological and physical scars on the victim for life," explains Kapur.
She adds that the impact of the physical abuse which affects the psychology of the child could lead to the following:
- Lack of trust and relationship difficulties
- Core feelings of being worthless or damaged
- Trouble regulating emotions
"In such cases, parents must avoid denial and remain calm, shouldn't interrogate, reassure the child that they did nothing wrong, show them that you trust them and they are safe now, assure them that their safety comes first and if need be, take the advice of an doctor," says Kapur.
Read: Every second child is a victim of child sexual abuse. Is yours?
If you have any insights, questions or comments regarding the article, please share them in our Comment box below. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Google+ and Twitter to stay up-to-date on the latest from theIndusparent.com
[All images courtesy: Pixabay]
