Indian police arrest second suspect over rape of five-year-old girl who was kidnapped and tortured

• Pradeep Kumar, a 19-year-old clothes factory worker, was arrested today
• Manoj Kumar, 24, was arrested on Saturday in Bihar
  
• The girl is being treated at India's leading state-run hospital in New Delhi
• The youngster was kidnapped, raped and tortured before being left for dead
• Doctors say she is responding well to treatment and her condition is stable
• Protesters clash with police outside HQ on second day of demonstrations
  
• Demonstrators say police ignored parents' reports that the girl was missing
  

By Alex Gore and Amanda Williams

Published: 14:12 EDT, 21 April 2013 | Updated: 16:01 EDT, 22 April 2013

Police have arrested a second suspect in the rape of a five-year-old girl in India, who officers say was left for dead in a locked room.

Pradeep Kumar, a 19-year-old clothes factory worker, was arrested today in the eastern state of Bihar, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from New Delhi.

New Delhi police said he was now being brought to the capital.

Police said questioning of the first man arrested in the case on Saturday, Manoj Kumar, led them to the second suspect.

Pradeep Kumar (left) was arrested today as a suspect  in the rape of a five year old girl. Manoj Kumar, 24, (right) was arrested in Saturday

Manoj Kumar, 24, was arrested on Saturday in Bihar and flown back to New Delhi. Kumar is a common last name in India and the two men are not related.

The men are accused of abducting, raping and attempting to murder the five-year-old, who went missing April 15 and was found two days later by neighbours who heard her crying in a locked room in the same New Delhi building where she lives with her family.

The girl was alone when she was found, having been left for dead by her attackers, police said.

The girl was in critical condition when she was transferred on Thursday from a local hospital to the largest government-run hospital in the country.

D.K. Sharma, medical superintendent of the hospital in New Delhi where the girl was being treated, said she was responding well to treatment and that her condition had stabilised.

'She is much better today and her wounds are healing well,' Sharma told reporters. 

It coincides with angry protests across the capital, where demonstrators clashed with police as anger grows over how authorities handle such cases.

The attack came four months after the fatal gang rape of a woman on a New Delhi bus sparked outrage across India about the treatment of women in the country.

Pradeep covers his face as he is taken away by police after he was arrested in Lakhisarai District yesterday

Police officials escort Pradeep (centre, in blue) at the regional airport in Patna, to board a flight for New Delhi

For the third consecutive day, sporadic protests erupted in at least three places in New Delhi.

Scores of supporters of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party dodged a huge police cordon and managed to reach the gates of Parliament where they shouted slogans against the Delhi police's handling of the case.

About 100 BJP supporters were detained.

Police said they would be held at a nearby police station and then released in a few hours.

Discontent: Many women are angry at the Indian authorities over the handling of sexual assault cases

Shocking: Today's demonstrations in New Delhi follow the kidnap, rape and torture of a five-year-old girl

Separately, about 100 women protested at another area near the Parliament building. Most of the protests were directed against the Delhi police officers who failed to act after the girl's parents told them she was missing.

The protesters have demanded that the Delhi police chief be removed from office and that police accused of failing to act on the parents' complaint be dismissed.

'The police must be held accountable for their shocking levels of apathy. They urgently need to review police processes to ensure that all cases of rape and sexual violence - not just those highlighted by the media - are fully and promptly investigated,' said G. Ananthapadmanabhan, who heads the India chapter of the human rights group Amnesty International.

Clashes: Two men are detained by police amid today's fierce protests in the country's capital city

Unrest: Officers say they detained around 50 people but that they were all released a few hours later

Mishandling: Police are accused of ignore the complaints from the parents of India's latest rape victim

'Those who fail to do their job must be held accountable,' he said.

Delhi police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar today admitted police had made mistakes in the handling the case.

'There have been shortfalls, so the station house officer and his deputy have been suspended,' Kumar told reporters.

However, he said that instructions given to police officers since the December gang rape case to report all complaints of rape and molestation had led to a 'phenomenal rise' in the number of such cases registered in the city.

'This shows that the tendency earlier to dissuade women from getting their complaints registered has changed dramatically,' he said.

Women have taken to the streets to voice their anger at the government and police response to rape cases

Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj said at least three other child rape victims were being treated at the same hospital as the five-year-old girl

Demands: Protesters were demanding the government ensure the safety and women and girls in the capital

He said the number of rape and molestation cases that police were able to solve and make arrests had also gone up drastically.

Despite the police chief's claims of tighter enforcement, sexual crimes against women and children are reported every day in Indian newspapers, and women often complain about feeling insecure when they leave their homes.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for changes in attitudes toward women in India.

'The gruesome assault on the little girl a few days back reminds us once again of the need to work collectively to root out this sort of depravity from our society,' Singh said at a meeting on Sunday with civil servants.

The December gang rape on the New Delhi bus sparked outrage and spurred the government to pass tough laws for crimes against women, including the death penalty for repeat offenders or for rape attacks that lead to the victim's death.

Activists say passing strong laws is not enough, and that the government must ensure that police and the justice system crack down on crimes against women.

'Mere changes in the law are not enough. Robust implementation is essential,' Ananthapadmanabhan said.

Continued campaign: Protesters gathered outside New Delhi's police HQ for a second consecutive day

Resignation: Demonstrators want New Delhi's police chief to step down over the latest child attack

Brutal: The latest rape victim had been left for dead and is in a critical condition in hospital

The Telegraph reported that Bharatiya Janata Party leader, Ms Swaraj, left the hospital after seeing the young victim, and said: 'I saw another five year old girl child in the next room.

'She is also a rape victim. She was found abandoned in the AIIMS Campus. She says her father is a Rickshaw puller. She misses her mother but does not want to go home.

'Doctors told me that only few days back, they discharged a male child who was a victim of sodomy. I think we should hang these criminals and save our children.'

An 11-year-old girl is also being treated at the hospital, having suffered serious internal injuries when she was gang-raped last August.

'The gruesome assault reminds us once again of the need root out this sort of depravity'

Action: India's politicians have passed tougher punishments for rape, including the death penalty

Abhorrent: The fatal gang-rape of a woman last year sparked a wave of anger across the country

Catalogue of cases: another young girl, aged 11, remains in hospital after being gang-rape in August

Tough talk: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for changes in attitudes toward women in India

Activists: Hundreds of women were among the crowd of protesters in New Delhi today