Colony bullying: Delhi boy made to lick shoes, sexually assaulted
The suspects, aged 12 and 14, were apprehended and a case has been filed. The video has been removed from Instagram.
Three teenagers sexually assaulted a boy in Hauz Khas on Saturday, forced the 14-year-old to lick their shoes, made a video of the incident, and uploaded it to Instagram, said police, detailing a harrowing crime that the minor hid from his mother for two days, before she saw the video on social media.
The three suspects, two of whom are aged 12 and the other 14, were apprehended on Monday.
A case was filed on Sunday, after the boy’s mother approached the Hauz Khas police station.
Officers involved in the investigation said the four went to two Delhi government schools in the neighbourhood and lived in the same colony. An initial probe revealed that the suspects assaulted the boy over a minor tussle, said police.
According to the boy’s statement, the victim was on his way home after playing at a park when the three accosted him and took him to an isolated spot in the south Delhi neighbourhood.
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There, one of the suspects brandished a knife at the 14-year-old and forced him to lick their shoes, even as another suspect made an Instagram Reel of the assault. The police confirmed that the 35-second video corroborated his account.
Then, the 12-year-old boy who was holding him at knifepoint sexually assaulted him. The other two followed suit soon after, said the police.
The suspects threatened the survivor and warned him against informing anyone about the crime, before letting him go.
While the boy did not inform his parents about the incident, a friend of the victim told the suspect’s mother on Sunday evening and shared a link of the video with her.
The 37-year-old woman then filed a police complaint, following which officers recorded the boy’s statement and registered a first information report (FIR) under sections 377 (unnatural sex) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Section 12 of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Assault (Pocso) Act.
The police apprehended the three boys from their homes in a lower-income group colony in Hauz Khas. Officers also took the survivor for a medical and examination and then to a counsellor.
“The 35-second video was later removed from Instagram and Meta (the social media platform’s parent company) has been asked to remove it from its database as well,” said Ankit Chouhan, deputy commissioner of police (south).
Neither the teenagers nor their families have any record of enmity, said the officer.
“The four come from the same economic background and all of their fathers work as contract labourers,” said Chouhan.
“The three accused have been apprehended and they too have been counselled. However, they are still being questioned to ascertain why they assaulted the boy,” said police.