Birbal (35), was arrested on the intervening night of November 21 and 22 after the victim's elder sister told police that she had seen a man giving chocolate to her, they said.
When the accused was arrested, he was in a highly inebriated state. On becoming a little sober around 6 AM today, he confessed that he had abducted the minor, raped her and then dumped her in a pit near Sarai Rohilla railway station on thinking that she had died, a police officer said.
Birbal even strangulated the kid before dumping her into the pit but she survived, a senior police officer said.
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal visited the girl's family at the hospital.
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"3.5 year old girl raped by 35 year old in Sarai Rohilla. He attempted her murder, was left unconscious in bushes. Critical, m visiting her," Maliwal tweeted before visiting the girl.
"The girl was missing since 7 PM yesterday. Her parents and neighbours searched for her for two hours before informing the police," a senior police officer said.
A case under sections 363 (kidnapping), 307 (attempt to murder), 376(rape) of IPC and other relevant sections of the POCSO has been registered against the accused, the officer said.
A four-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted on Sunday before she was killed in northwest Delhi's Keshavpuram area.