Three or thirty, women of all ages, are unsafe from predators. A shocking incident came to light on Sunday when a middle-aged Delhi tailor confessed that he sexually abused hundreds of school girls since 2004.

38-year-old Sunil Rastogi was arrested after investigations into three sexual attacks on young girls. The paedophile admitted that he lured girls to lonely places on the pretext of sending clothes to their parents. He has claimed he attempted assault on more than 2,500 minors. He has confirmed that he sexually abused at least 500 of these girls.

He was jailed in 2006 for six months in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, where he hails from.

The accused told the police that he targeted girls aged between 7 and 10. He would mislead any girl going home from school and would tell her that their father had sent some clothes or some articles to give it to them. He would then take the girl to an isolated place, Senior Police Officer Omvir Singh said, as reported by NDTV.

Rastogi has two sons and three daughters. The daughters are being counselled in an attempt to find out whether they were abused too.

The accused was also beaten and thrown from his home in 2004 when he allegedly attacked a neighbour’s daughter.

He was arrested when two families reported to the police on January 10 that their daughters were kidnapped and attacked. He promised them new clothes and took them below the stairs of an under-construction building. He fled when the girls shouted and raised the alarm.

“A team headed by Sub-inspector Sandeep from New Ashok Nagar police station tracked him down, and he was arrested from Kondli village,” said Omvir Singh Bishnoi, DCP, as reported by The Times of India.

Delhi police have linked Rastogi to six cases, two in Rudrapur, one in Bilaspur District and three in New Delhi.

The accused would let the girl off if she resisted. He would also blackmail his victims into returning to him again.

A special investigation team has been set up to look for other victims since it is being speculated that most of the crimes went unreported.

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Child sexual abuse is a serious topic and needs to be tackled efficiently. The fact that this man was able to abuse 500 young girls is a testament to the unsupportive emotional environment we are providing to our children. We shame them, scold them, or worse, do not believe them when they speak of someone misbehaving with them. We have created an environment of fear rather than one of unconditional support, open communication, and trust.

Parents also tend to overlook signs and symptoms of abuse due to ignorance. A child who has been abused needs special care and support at the earliest. Parents should always be alert to any inexplicable change in their child’s behaviour.

The Logical Indian requests everyone, especially parents to educate children on child abuse and foster a friendly and open environment at home. We also request the Government to have a public sex offender’s registry.

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