“Mujhe itna maara tha unhone ki saans phula di thi. Mere saath badtameezi ki…” (They beat me up so much that I could hardly breathe. They misbehaved with me.)
On 27 September, an 11-year-old boy from northeast Delhi’s Seelampur recorded a 1.23-minute-long video, as he writhed in pain, days after he was sodomised and assaulted allegedly by three minors.
“These boys took my son to the terrace of a medical dispensary where they assaulted him. They hit him with bricks and rods, and pushed him from the terrace. His right leg and arm were broken, he could barely open his mouth and he had sustained external as well as internal injuries," the boy's father told The Quint.
The incident took place on 18 September, and on the morning of 1 October, the child succumbed to his injuries at the city’s Lok Nayak Hospital.
As per the PRO of DCP (Northeast), the matter only came to light on the afternoon of 22 September after the child was admitted to the hospital. For two days, the family refused to give a statement. It was only "after extensive counselling" that the mother disclosed that her son had been physically assaulted and sodomised by his three friends.
"He was scared. It was only when he couldn't bear the pain any longer, he told us, after which we took him to the hospital,” said his mother, in between sobs, after the family conducted his last rites.
A case has been registered under sections 377 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) amounting to voluntary carnal intercourse between people of the same sex, and section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Police said that “one child has been apprehended and efforts are on to apprehend the other two."
‘Didn’t Tells Us for Days What Exactly Happened’
After the incident, the boy was put on life support for nine days and developed a kidney infection. A source from the Lok Nayak Hospital told The Times of India that the child was a "victim of sexual abuse and had severe injuries due to being repeatedly hit with a heavy or blunt object on his chest which led to the collection of fluid around his chest."
The deceased’s elder sister told The Quint, “My mother hasn't stopped crying. I was in the hospital and watched doctors insert tubes in his body. They tried to resuscitate him this morning, but he did not respond. I knew he was dead.”
The child’s inconsolable mother stared at her son’s body one last time on Saturday afternoon. It was kept in an open yard next to the dispensary where the incident took place.
“He wanted to join the Delhi Police. He wanted to be a policeman, and his teachers always told me how bright he was… Now he's gone,” she said.
The boy’s twin sister stood next to her mother.
“If they could do this to my boy, they can also do this to my daughter, too. I am scared," said the mother.
‘Accused Should be Punished Irrespective of Age,’ Says Victim’s Father
A neighbour who lives in the same lane as the victim's family told The Quint that the accused lured the boy to the dispensary “with the excuse of wanting to play cricket.”
The neighbour said, “This is a cramped locality. We don't have parks and open fields here. Children play in these small yards and abandoned terraces. Those boys (accused) just casually invited him (minor) to play with them and then assaulted him," he said.
While one minor accused has been apprehended, the other two are yet to be apprehended. “The police should catch them and punish them irrespective of their age," the boy's father said.
“I will not rest till I see all the accused behind bars,” said the child’s mother, surrounded by relatives and neighbours.
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