Kolkata, Sep 27 (IANS): Four persons have been detained in connection with the alleged rape of a one-and-half-year-old child of a pavement dweller in Kolkata's Park Street area, police said Wednesday.

"We have detained four persons for interrogation in connection with the alleged rape of a baby girl. All the four are also pavement dwellers," said Mohammed Kalimuddin, officer-in-charge of Park Street police station.

The baby with critical injuries is now in the ICU of a private nursing home.

"The condition of the child is very serious and once she is stable, a medical examination to confirm if she was raped will be conducted," added Kalimuddin.

The mother of the baby in her complaint to the police has said that in the wee hours of Wednesday, she was awakened by the wails of her baby only to find her lying in a pool of blood nearby.

She later called the police who hospitalised the baby.

Political parties were quick to condemn the incident and demanded exemplary punishment for the offenders.

"A place where the chief minister finds incidents of rape fabricated, such heinous crimes will always happen because the offenders are not afraid of the administration. The police must immediately arrest the perpetrators," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shamik Bhattacharya said.

Congress leader Pradip Ghosh also condemned the incident and demanded severe punishment for the offenders.