TUTICORIN: Three minor boys aged 13 and 14 years old were arrested by the Kovilpatti east police in Tuticorin district for repeated sexual abuse of their nine-year-old neighbour for close to one-and-a-half-months.
Inquiry by the police revealed that the accused who are only in class 8 (two boys) and 9 (one boy) students saw porn in their mobile phones they were using to attend online class and to play games and sexually abused the boy by showing him those videos and forcing him to do the same.
The incident came to light earlier this week when the boy who was hospitalised for 10 days told his parents after his discharge. The three boys were arrested on Friday and lodged in the home for children in conflict with the law in Tirunelveli. The police said that the victim and the abusers, who are neighbours, used to be friends. While the victim, son of an autorickshaw driver, studied in a private school, the abusers studied in another school. The boys had access to mobile phones as they were attending online classes.
"All the boys used to sit together and play online games in one of their houses. During one such occasion, the accused showed sexually explicit content to the victim on their phones and forced the boy to do it. They took him to a narrow unused street in the locality to abuse him. The boy was afraid of his former friends and stayed indoors on many days as they were waiting for him to come out to drag him to the street and sexually abuse him. This continued for one-and-a-half-months," a police source said.
Unable to bear with the physical and mental assault he has been facing for weeks, he also lost his appetite, fell ill and was admitted to a private hospital in Kovilpatti on January 6 and underwent treatment till January 15. The doctor informed his parents that he was traumatised and is unable to come out of shock for reasons unknown. He advised his parents to pacify him and know what was troubling him so that he could get help to come out of it. After repeated rounds of counselling by the parents he gave a detailed account of the tragedy to his mother.
Based on a complaint lodged by the parents with the Kovilpatti east police, the trio was booked under sections 3 (penetrative sexual assault), 4 (punishment for penetrative sexual assault), 5(i) (penetrative sexual assault causing grievous hurt or causing bodily harm and injury or injury to the sexual organs of the child), 5(m) (penetrative sexual assault on a child below twelve years) and 6 (punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Efforts were underway to help the victim come out of the trauma.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect his privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
