A six-year-old Hathras girl who had allegedly been raped by a cousin and an accomplice at her aunt’s home in Aligarh, where she had been staying after the death of her mother, died at a Delhi hospital on Tuesday after battling for life for 19 days.

The girl had allegedly been raped and locked up in a bathroom at her aunt’s home in the Iglas area of Aligarh and was rescued by children who heard her cries while playing nearby.

The crime and its aftermath resemble the case of the Dalit teen in Hathras who was gang-raped and murdered last month. In this case too, police have been accused of dithering in registering a case. The six-year-old girl had initially been taken to a local hospital and then shifted to JN Medical College in Aligarh and from there to Sarojini Naidu Medical College in Agra where she breathed her last.

The medical report at the Aligarh medical college, from where she had been shifted to the Agra hospital on Sunday, has confirmed rape and found that the six-year-old had suffered vaginal damage.

The local police in Aligarh registered a case on September 24, seven days after the crime, when the condition of the victim started to deteriorate. Her 15-year-old cousin has been arrested and sent to a remand home. Another accused, described as the main perpetrator by the girl’s family, and the victim’s aunt are absconding.

Perhaps chastened by the widespread condemnation over its handling of the case of the Hathras teenager and a protest held on Tuesday amid the charged atmosphere in the district by the six-year-old’s family with her body, the police moved swiftly to suspend the station house officer of Iglas. Aligarh senior superintendent of police Muniraj G. said the cousin had confessed to his crime.

The girl’s family sat on a dharna on Mathura Road near their village in the Sadabad area of Hathras for about five hours, demanding the arrest of the “main accused” and action against the police in Iglas.

The girl’s father said: “Her aunt (mother’s sister) had taken her to her home in January after my wife died. A youth of that village and her son gang-raped my daughter and locked her up in a bathroom. Some children who were playing nearby heard her cries and rescued her.

“Some members of (the NGO) ChildLine heard about the incident and admitted her to a local hospital the same evening (September 17). From there, she was shifted to Aligarh and then to Delhi, where she died on Tuesday morning.”

He alleged that the police in Iglas had refused to register a complaint on September 17.

“A case was registered against the aunt and her son when the police realised that my daughter could die. But the main accused is roaming freely in the village and I have told the police about him. I want the suspension of all the personnel at Iglas police station and the arrest of the main tormentor of my daughter,” he added.

Muniraj, the Aligarh SSP, said: “Praveen Kumar Mann, the station house officer of Iglas, has been suspended because he didn’t take the complaint seriously. The accused has been arrested and sent to a remand home. The aunt is absconding. The government has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the family.”

The officer said the family withdrew the dharna after the local administration assured them that the police would look into their allegations.