A two-year-old girl was raped and later dumped in a gutter in a north-west suburb here, police said on Wednesday.

The incident took place on Monday night.

The girl along with her family members was sleeping on a pavement near the suburban Vile Parle railway station when she was taken away by some unknown person, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IX) Niket Kaushik said adding, late in the night the kid’s mother noticed that she was missing.

A few hours later, the girl was spotted in a gutter near the highway and after being rescued by the fire-brigade was taken to a local hospital, Kaushik said.

The girl’s parents were then called to the hospital, he said.

"On medical examination it was learnt that the child had been raped," the DCP said, adding further investigations were on in the case.

• Needless to say, this is not the first or the last time we have witnessed a crime like this.

• In my view “Death Penalty ” is the only punishment that should be issued for predators like these. No amount of effort of rehabilitation or life in imprisonment can change deranged people like these.

• The court doesn’t support “issuing a death penalty ” for this crime. That implies that a person who commits a horrific crime of rape will live in the maximum amount of security, will get food and shelter on whose expense? On our expense!

• After a while the criminal will be released and once again one more chapter of this horrendous crime will be written of hunting innocent children/women.

• Honestly speaking, I sometimes find it hard to reach to a conclusion on how these criminals should be prosecuted because even death penalty is an easy death.

• Myths:-Some people think that people like these don’t have a family or children. Many child predators even raped their own daughters and cousins. Other myth is that they are mentally sick people, therefore chances are that rehabilitation can change them. I disagree with them based on what research concludes that child predators repeatedly commit rape.

• I wish it was in my hands to decide the punishment for these deviant, deranged people. No amount of punishment would be enough for these criminals considering how the crime like “rape” does to the sufferer – the emotional and physical trauma last for ever.

Please share your views on what kind of punishment for child rapists should be decided by the court.