By Aysu Bicer
LONDON (AA) - A 32-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder following an attack on an 11-year-old girl in Leicester Square, central London.
The accused, identified as Ioan Pintaru, was apprehended less than a day after the incident and now faces charges of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article.
The young girl was with her mother, visiting London as tourists, when the attack occurred on Monday.
According to prosecutors, Pintaru, a Romanian citizen with no fixed address, approached the child, placed her in a headlock, and stabbed her eight times.
The brutal assault left the girl with serious wounds to her face, shoulder, wrist, and neck.
Despite the severity of her injuries, the girl's condition was assessed as non-life-threatening.
Initial reports from the scene suggested that the girl's mother, aged 34, had also been injured.
However, police later clarified that the blood on the mother was mistakenly believed to be from her own wounds but was actually from her daughter's injuries.
Pintaru has been remanded in custody and is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later on Tuesday.