A 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a juvenile in a slum cluster in east Delhi’s Shashi Garden when she was hiding behind a temple to evade stray dogs.
The incident comes weeks after the rape of two minors that led to a political blame game between the Delhi government and police.
The juvenile, who also lives in the same locality as the girl, was nabbed. On Friday evening, while returning from a grocery store, the girl took shelter behind a temple when she saw a few stray dogs and feared they may attack her, said police.
“The minor boy, who was watching the girl from his home, approached her and asked her to hide inside his house. When the girl refused, the teenager forcibly pulled her inside the house and forced himself on her,” said a police officer.
After allegedly sexually assaulting the girl, the teenager allowed her to return home on the condition that she will not tell anybody about the incident. The girl reached home and when her parents asked her about the delay, she narrated the incident.
Her parents immediately went to the Pandav Nagar police station and filed a complaint.
“On the basis of the complaint, a case under the appropriate sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) and IPC was registered. The girl was sent to the nearby government hospital where her medical examination confirmed rape. A local NGO was roped in for the girl’s counselling,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, a police team was formed and the alleged juvenile accused’s house was raided. The teenager was apprehended from the house and was later produced before the juvenile justice board that sent him to a correction home for boys.
Police sources said the juvenile was a drug addict. “We learnt that he is a menace in the locality as often he would create ruckus after consuming drugs and alcohol,” the officer said.
Last week, in the aftermath of the rapes of the two minor girls in the Capital, the Arvind Kejriwal government set up a panel to look into amending existing criminal laws so as to enforce stricter punishment for rape.
The government is also mulling lowering the age of juveniles to 15 years in heinous crimes such as rape.
