Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 -- English Window to China News

A 30-YEAR-OLD farmer was arrested for raping a 21-month-old girl on Monday in Guangdong Province, a newspaper reported today.

The suspect surnamed Cao allegedly confessed to raping the infant after becoming intoxicated, Guangzhou Daily reported today.

The baby’s mother, surnamed Liu, was quoted as saying: ``the doctor could not believe someone could treat a little girl like that.”

The infant is being treated at Guangzhou Children’s Hospital.

The girl’s family told the newspaper that she needed two or three surgeries and her recovery was expected to take four months.

Cao, who is married to an attractive wife and has an eight-year-old son, has known the victim’s family for six years, the report said.

At 9am on Monday, Cao allegedly took the girl from her parents, who were working in the field, and said he was going to buy her some candy.

``We usually take our daughter into the field so we can care for her while working,’’ Liu told the newspaper. ``We know him well and we were busy at the time when he asked to take her, so we agreed.’’

About 10am, Cao returned on his moped with one arm holding the baby, but Liu noticed something unusual.

``Her trousers were off and hanging on the front of his moped,’’ the mother was quoted as saying. ``My daughter cried at the sight of me and Cao said she made a mess in her pants so he had to wash her trousers.’’

The couple even apologized for the trouble, but Cao replied ``never mind’’ and left the scene, according to the report.

Later, Liu noticed her daughter was bleeding.

Her parents immediately rushed her to a local hospital and doctors confirmed she was sexually assaulted, the report said.