On Tuesday, a 15-year-old boy was detained and sent to a juvenile home for allegedly sexually assaulting a 7-year-old boy in a public toilet in Mumbai.
According to Indian Express, the 15-year-old boy allegedly lured the seven-year-old to a public toilet on the pretext of giving him chocolate. Both the accused and victim stay in the same locality. The toilet, where the incident took place, is located at a secluded spot and thus the boy’s cry for help wasn’t heard by anyone. The accused to the boy inside the toilet and bolted the door from inside and sexually assaulted him.
The incident came to light when the 7-year-old boy's parents started looking for him, that is when a local resident informed them that their son was spotted walking towards the public toilet with the 15-year-old. An officer told the Indian Express, “When they reached the spot, they could hear their son crying inside the toilet, following which, they tried to open the door. Within minutes, the accused opened the door himself and their son came running towards them.”
Later, the 7-year-old narrated his ordeal to his parents, who then approached police along with the teenager and filed a complaint. Based on the complaint, police filed an FIR under sections 377 (unnatural offences) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the IPC along with sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault), 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault), 10 (aggravated sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment of a child) of the POCSO Act.
