A policeman at Nehru Stadium. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, Jan. 3: A nine-year-old girl was yesterday raped at Nehru Stadium, one of the venues of the National Games in February, two days before the home secretary is scheduled to arrive to assess security for the event.

In another part of Guwahati, a five-year-old girl fell prey to an acquaintance in a phone booth this morning.

The stadium, abuzz with activity during the day for the February 9-18 Games, was deserted around 6.30 pm yesterday when a 51-year-old employee of the Board of Sports forced himself on his nine-year-old neighbour at one of the ladies’ toilets.

Sulav Charan Mohanty, the supervisor of the R.G. Baruah Sports Complex and a grandfather, is absconding. His family members — wife, two daughters, sons-in-law, two sons and grandchildren have been detained.

Paltan Bazar police station said a case has been registered.

The Board of Sports suspended Mohanty and asked him to appear before it within a week or face dismissal from service. It has also decided to bear the medical expenses of the girl.

The police said Mohanty lured the girl, a swimmer, into the stadium while her parents were away.

On returning home around 8 pm, the girl’s mother, who is also an employee of the Board of Sports, found her sitting by the swimming pool in the R.G. Baruah Sports Complex, where they live. The stadium is part of the complex.

She also spotted bloodstains on her daughter’s clothes. When the girl narrated the incident, the mother confronted Mohanty, who confessed. He was taken to the officer-in-charge of the Board of Sports around 10.30 pm, who asked some employees to put Mohanty under “house arrest” till morning. However, Mohanty fled around 2.30 am.

The second incident occurred at Bagheswari, under Dispur police station, around 10 am. Rabi Sarma, 26, allegedly raped the five-year-old girl in the PCO where he works.

When the girl told her mother and neighbours about it, they caught Sarma and beat him up before handing him over to the police.