On September 18, an underage boy was gang raped by his cousin and three of his friends in the Seelampur area of North-east Delhi. Delhi Police officers probing the horrific sexual assault of the 10-year-old boy, who died at a city hospital on Saturday, said the case had some chilling similarities with the December 16, 2012 Delhi gang rape case.

A 10-year-old boy, who was sexually assaulted and beaten allegedly by his three friends in northeast Delhi’s New Seelampur area, died at a hospital on Saturday, police said. All the minor victims involved in the crime, including the victim’s cousin, are between 10 and 12 years of age, from the same community and residents of northeast Delhi’s New Seelampur area. The three allegedly brutalised the boy over a debt that the family had trouble paying back on time.

The incident was reported on September 22 to the Seelampur police station via a call from LNJP Hospital regarding a boy aged about 10 years admitted on account of a physical assault that happened three days back.

A police team reached the hospital and met with the parents of the child. However, they refused to give a statement, police said. The child was then under medical observation.

According to the doctors, the family didn’t bring the boy to the hospital for four days after which his condition worsened. According to some reports, doctors reportedly said the boy’s wounds were so gruesome that they were reminded of the December 16, 2012 gang rape case.

The family did not give any statement till September 24. After counselling arranged by the police, the boy’s mother eventually disclosed that her son was physically assaulted and sodomised by his three friends over a debt the family had trouble paying back on time.

In a Hindi tweet, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal, too, confirmed the boy’s death. She said he suffered a lot and demanded stringent punishment to the accused.

Earlier, the DCW had issued a notice to the city police in this connection. The police had apprehended two of the accused and produced them before the Juvenile Justice Board.

The victim and the accused are neighbours and belong to the same age group. They hail from the same community, police had said, adding the incident took place on September 18.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal has taken cognisance of the matter. “This is a very serious matter.,” she said in a notice.

She sought a copy of the First Information Report (FIR), details of the accused arrested in the case and a report on the course of action so far. Maliwal has asked the Station House Officer (SHO) of Seelampur police station to submit the required information by Wednesday (September 28, 2022).

Reportedly, the victim and the accused are from the same community. It must be mentioned that Seelampur has been the hotbed of Islamist violence since the anti-Hindu riots of 2020.

Police officers list similarities with Dec 16 gang rape incident

Delhi Police officers probing the horrific sexual assault of the 10-year-old boy, who died at a city hospital on Saturday, said the case had some chilling similarities with the December 16, 2012 Delhi gang rape case.

Detailing the similarities between the two cases, officers privy to the probe listed the nature of injuries – a wooden stick or rod was allegedly inserted in the boy’s private parts too, the recording of his statement on tape before his death, to the lenient punishment that the accused minor boys may be handed out.

On the evening of December 16, 2012, a 23-year-old paramedic student was gang raped and beaten inside a bus by five men and one 17-year-old boy. The six then threw her out of the moving bus. The young woman succumbed to her injuries at a Singapore hospital on December 29.

While the young woman had recorded her statement before a magistrate in 2012 and given the names of the accused, in the present case too there is a video of the 10-year-old boy describing the assault on camera. In the video, the boy has also revealed the names of the minors who assaulted him sexually.

Police officers said the maximum punishment that the three juvenile suspects may get for the murder and sexual assault of the 10-year-old, will also be similar to the 2012 Delhi gang rape case. While five convicts (all above 18) were sentenced to death, the juvenile accused in the 2012 case was sent to a detention home for three years.

All three minor accused boys in the present case are aged 10-12 years.

“In this case, two of the three juveniles have been apprehended while the third is on the run. The maximum punishment they may get from the Juvenile Justice Board(JJB) is three years at a shelter home. This is exactly the time that the juvenile accused had served at a shelter home in the 2012 gang rape case. Had the minors been between 16 and 18 they would have spent more time behind bars,” said a police officer.

Police are awaiting the final post-mortem report after which sections of murder or culpable homicide amounting to murder could be added to the FIR after discussing the findings of the report with the JJB.

Law for juveniles in conflict with the law

Amod Kanth, former director general of Arunachal Pradesh and also a former chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said that under the Indian Penal Code, a child below seven years cannot be apprehended irrespective of the crime they are involved in. In 2017, the police filed a case of sexual assault, in which the mother of the victim had said that a four-year-old boy was involved in the case. A year later, the cases were dropped.

Experts said that under section 82 of the Indian Penal Code – nothing is an offence if it is done by a child below 7 years.

“For children between 8 and 12 years, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) decides if the minor is to be treated as a child in conflict-with-law. It depends on the maturity level of the child. The JJB will take the help of experts and decide this. It is on the recommendation of the JJB that police may apprehend a minor between 8 and 12 years. But in the case of a minor between 12 and 18, he/she is deemed to be treated as a child in conflict with the law and could be apprehended by the police. The proceeding is then handled by the JJB,” said Kant.

Kant, who served in different senior roles in the Delhi police for over three decades, and runs an NGO Prayas, added, “In this case, because the minors are between 8 and 12, the maximum time for which they can be kept in a juvenile home is 3 years. In rare cases of a heinous crime, there should be a system to keep some children under surveillance post the 3-year period. It will help to track the progress of the child.”

References:

opindia.com