TUTICORIN: Three boys aged between 13 and 14 were arrested by Kovilpatti east police on Friday for repeated sexual assault on a nine-year-old boy for one-and-a-half-months.
Police said the accused boys, influenced by porn they accessed on mobile phones given to them to attend online classes, showed it to the victim and forced him to indulge in sexual acts.
The incident came to light earlier this week when the victim was hospitalised for 10 days. Police said the victim and his abusers are neighbours and friends. While the nine-year-old, son of an autorickshaw driver, studied in a private school, his abusers studied in another school. "All the boys used to sit together and play online games in one of their houses. On one such occasion the accused showed sexually explicit content to the victim on their phones and forced the boy to do it. They used to take him to a narrow unused street to abuse him. The boy grew fearful of his tormentors and used to hide from them," a police source said.
Unable to bear the physical and mental assault, he lost his appetite, fell ill and was admitted to a private hospital in Kovilpatti from January 6 to 15. The doctor informed his parents that he was traumatised and unable to come out of shock for reasons unknown. After repeated rounds of counselling by the parents he gave a detailed account of the abuse to his mother.
Based on a complaint lodged by the parents, 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. The three of them were arrested on Friday and lodged in the home for children in Tirunelveli.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect his privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
