Uttarakhand: 12-Year-Old Planned & Committed Gang Rape After Watching Pornographic Video, Says Police

In another case of reported sexual abuse against a minor, five boys, aged between nine and 14 have been accused of gang-raping an eight-year-old girl from Sahaspur, 25 km from Dehradun in Uttarakhand on July 12. Reportedly, one among the five, a 12-year-old boy had planned the ‘rape’ after watching a pornographic video on a mobile phone.

What happened?

Reportedly, the plan was first formulated by the 12-year-old after which, other boys also joined. The boy reportedly had molested an infant in the past as well. However, this remained unconfirmed as no one reported the incident. The eldest accused revealed this information to the Sahaspur police.

The station officer, Narendra Rath told Hindustan Times, “During investigations, it was found that the plan to rape the girl was hatched by one of the accused aged 12. The plan was backed by the 14-year-old followed by the remaining three — aged 9, 10, and 12.” Police had also detained the 15-year-old brother of the 9-year-old because it was on his phone that the boys watched pornographic content.

An initial probe also revealed that the eight-year-old was lured with the promise of chocolates and then taken to the 10-year-old boy’s house which was empty at that time. The girl was also taken to Doon Hospital for an examination where it was determined that she was in fact raped. The SHO added, “The victim was taken to Doon Hospital (Female) for medical examination. The reports mentioned injuries to her private parts and confirmed the gang rape. Earlier on Sunday, the five accused, in their statement before the court, had confessed to the crime.” The parents of the victim became suspicious after she kept quiet and refused to eat. She broke down soon after and narrated the incident. After the parents lodged a police complaint, the accused was sent to a correctional facility by the juvenile court, reported Hindustan Times.

Reported cases of sexual abuse against minors have seen an exponential rise over the years. As per the NCRB report for the year 2016, states that the crimes against women had gone up 13.6% from 2015, 34.4%.of which were cases under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act).

It is becoming a trend

Earlier this month, The Logical Indian reported on a similar case from Kanpur where four boys aged between six and ten, allegedly raped a four-year-old after watching pornographic content. Before that, in June, in Noida, a 13-year-old boy was arrested and sent to a juvenile home, after he abducted and killed a three-year-old child. He had kidnapped her with an intention to rape, however, after he failed to do so, he ended up killing her. In this case, too, the accused viewed pornographic content.

The Logical Indian spoke to Dr Praveen Tripathi, consultant in Psychiatry and Director, The Renova Care, Noida, to understand what triggers this kind of dangerous mindset in such young children. Dr Tripathi said, “One of the major reasons is that the children nowadays are exposed to sexual content. With such penetration of the internet into the lives, children can see such content, and there is no way that the content that they view can be regulated. Even if a mechanism is brought to regulate it, people always find a way around it.”

He added, “In developed countries, children are provided with sex education, which is lacking in our country. So, there are both lacks of information and misinformation that comes into play.”

“It is very important that the teachers and the parents impart sexual education to their kids. Also, tell them what kind of healthy behaviour is expected out of them”, Dr Tripathi said.

The Logical Indian take

A sexual offence is in itself a heinous crime and with young children committing such crimes compels us to think whether enough is being done to improve the situation. Young children indulging in such crimes only proves that dealing with it on a superficial level by just sending them to correction homes or even giving them punishment is no solution. Proper sexual behaviour and sex education have to be mandatorily made a part of the curriculum. Teachers and parents should never feel hesitation in talking about these things with their kids. In this age, where information is abundant, the parents and teachers have to make a choice – whether they teach their children about sex education or let them fall prey to the misinformation that is present just a click away.

Also read: Juvenile Justice Bill Passed, Age Of Minors Reduced To 16 Years For Heinous Crimes