Mumbai: In a shocking incident, an 11-year-old specially-abled boy studying at a civic-run school in Andheri (West) was sexually assaulted by four other students, all aged between 11-13 years, in the school’s bathroom on January 11.
A case has been registered against the four minors, of whom three were taken into custody by the DN Nagar Police, while one is believed to have gone to his native place to evade arrest.
All the juvenile accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The 11-year-old boy, a resident of Andheri, was a student of a municipal school in the neighbourhood.
“Other students would often pass jibes at the victim, denting his confidence and morale. On January 11, four of his schoolmates – one of whom studies in the same class, took him to the school’s bathroom at 10.30 am during the break and sexually assaulted him, taking turns at sodomising him,” said an officer with the DN Nagar police, on condition of anonymity.
The boy, who was mentally disturbed by the assault, shared his ordeal with his mother, complaining about discomfort in his rectum.
The mother then contacted an NGO, The Aarambh India Initiative, who guided the family through the process of ascertaining the child’s mental and physical condition after the incident, and in conducting the medical tests.
“When we met the boy, he said that this was not the first time such an incident had occurred. A few days before the Diwali vacation began, the same boys had sexually assaulted him.
However, this time, due to the severity of pain, he told his mother that a few boys were doing ‘ganda kaam’ with him, which the mother could not interpret correctly at the time,” said Arjun Malge and Shefali Shirsekar, social workers from the Aarambh Initiative.
“The boy’s mother told us that when she approached the school authorities to complain about the crime, her complaint was not heeded and she was turned away,” said Malge.
After preliminary medical tests, the victim’s family approached the DN Nagar police, who registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the four minors on January 14.
“The four boys have been booked under relevant sections of the IPC for unnatural sex (section 377), criminal intimidation (section 506) and common intention (section 34) along with sections of the POCSO Act,” said an officer from DN Nagar police.
Over the course of the next three days, the police took the three boys into custody and produced them before the Juvenile Justice Board, following which they were sent to the Dongri correctional home. The search for the fourth boy is on, the police said.
