By A. Mannan

A 33-year old man in Mumbai, India, injected sedatives into his eight-year-old daughter before raping her or sending her out to other men in exchange for cash or whisky.

The shocking revelation came to light after police investigated a rape report lodged by the girl's grandfather.

"The man usually traded his daughter for a bottle of whisky or Rs 100 ($4.08)," it quoted senior police official Purushottam Gawande as saying.

According to the Mumbai Mirror, the girl is currently being rehabilitated at a children's home and counselled by psychiatrists.

The type of drugs that he used on the girl have not been ascertained yet.

Police arrested Chhatis Das together with his drinking buddies - tailor Shabbir Sayed and Ashok Iyer, a watchman for allegedly raping her repeatedly.

Photo: The Daily Chilli

The trio were charged under Sections 376 (Rape) and Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act, 1956 on Wednesday.

Police have asked for the case be fast-tracked and have called for the rapist father be given the death sentence.

Earlier, Purushottam said although the girl underwent immense suffering, she did not confide in anyone. The girl called her grandfather in June and but only told him that her father had beaten her.

She finally related her ordeal to her grandmother and a police report was lodged on Tuesday.

The man had apparently gone to Cambodia to work as a radio mechanic in 2000 and married a Cambodian woman with whom he had the daughter.

Three years later, however, he divorced his wife and brought his daughter back to India and made her beg on the streets.

Relatives got him married to a local woman but she left within two months later after he tried to force her into prostitution.