The incident brought back the spectre of the Jubilee Hills rape case from May and another in late October in Hyderabad.
The boys first sexually assaulted her at her home — in the absence of her family — in August this year. (Creative Commons)
The Hayathnagar police under the Rachakonda Commissionerate said on Tuesday, 29 November, that they arrested five boys on Monday for sexually assaulting a minor schoolmate multiple times, recording the acts, and circulating the clips online.
The incident brought back the spectre of the Jubilee Hills rape case from May and another in late October in Hyderabad. In both cases, four of the accused are being tried as adults.
The police said on Tuesday that all the accused in the Hayathnagar case were minors and students of the same school. Some study in Standard 10, while others are in Standard 9.
The survivor was said to be around 17 years old, around the same age as the accused.
The accused, whom the police termed children in conflict with the law (CCLs), have been booked under Sections 449 (trespassing) and 376 DA (gang rape) read with Section 34 (conspiracy) of the IPC.
They have also been charged under relevant sections of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Juvenile Justice Act.
The police have also invoked the Information Technology (IT) Act against them because they circulated the recorded videos online.
The police said the five accused used to roam around parts of Hayathnagar and consume pornographic content on their phones.
The cops added that the quintet had their eye on a classmate, who moved around with them freely and talked with them frankly.
The boys first sexually assaulted her at her home — in the absence of her family — in August this year.
One of them captured the sexual act of the video on a cell phone, said the cops.
After 10 days, one of them with another CCL boy again went and sexually abused her and recorded the act on the phone, the police said in their statement.
It was only when the boys circulated the videos on WhatsApp that the girl narrated the ordeal with her parents.
They immediately approached the cops and lodged a complaint at the Hayathnagar Police Station on Monday.
The police arrested the five CCLs by the end of the day, and confiscated three cell phones from them.
They are currently lodged at a juvenile home in Saidabad. It remains to be seen if any of them will be tried as adults, as has been ordered in the two aforementioned cases.
Hayathnagar Station House Officer (SHO) H Venkateswarlu told South First: “The survivor was counselled by a child welfare officer.”
The SHO added: “After undergoing a medical examination, she is currently at a Sakhi One Stop Centre.”
The Telangana government runs such centres to provide services like police facilitation, medical aid, psycho-social counselling, legal counselling and temporary shelter to women affected by violence.
Apr 27, 2024
Apr 27, 2024
Apr 27, 2024
Apr 27, 2024
Apr 27, 2024
Apr 27, 2024
