Security officials in the northern province of Badakhshan on Thursday said that a seven-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her father earlier this week.
 
The officials said that security forces have arrested the suspect.
 
On Wednesday, Badakhshan residents slammed local police for not having arrested the man who allegedly raped the girl.
 
The incident reportedly took place on Monday when the suspect raped the child in her home. The child is being treated in a Badakhshan hospital.
 
But, the victim’s father has dismissed the allegations as baseless and said that he is not aware of the crime.
 
Previously, the victim had said that she was raped by a man known as Abduzar.

But on Thursday, the security officials, the victim and victim’s mother said that the crime had been carried out by the father.

 
“I was at my neighbor's house, when I returned I saw the girl lying on the ground and I also saw blood, when I asked about the issue, she said that my father had done something bad to me,” said the victim’s mother.
 
Security officials in the province said that the crime was carried out by the victim’s father while he was drunk and that he has confessed to the crime.
 
“After a series of investigations over the past three days, we come to know that this brutal act had been carried out by her father; her father is now in our custody and he will be introduced to the attorney,” said Mohammad Nabi, security commander at Badakhshan police headquarter.

But the suspect has told TOLOnews that the allegation was a conspiracy against him.
 
“I have not committed this crime, even a nonbeliever can not do that, I am a Muslim and I know my sister and mother, how I can commit such an act,” said the victim’s father,
 
Meanwhile, chairperson of the Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) in Badakhshan has strongly condemned the crime against the seven year old girl and called on the Afghan government to serve justice on the criminal.
 
“We strongly condemn the act, it was a shocking incident, the police need to arrest the main criminal whether he is the father or someone else and serve him justice,” said Arifa Naweed, head of AIHRC office in Badakhshan.
 
Residents and civil society activists have also denounced the crime. They have warned they will close down government institutions in Badakhshan unless the government serves justice on the criminal involved.