Goa, Nov. 10 -- A horrific alleged sexual assault on a three year-old girl in Mapusa has raised serious questions over policing and public safety in an area barely 100 metres from the town's police station, where an abandoned building with a long-standing reputation for illicit activities remained unsecured and poorly monitored. The child, daughter of a migrant vendor who had brought his family to Ma pusa for Diwali festivities on Sunday, was allegedly abducted by an uniden tified man and sexually assaulted inside the dilap idated structure opposite Lohia Garden. She was subsequently found naked, crying and bleeding pro fusely near the local taxi stand, bringing into focus the security lapses in the heart of the town.

The location of the...