The boy had been critical over the past few days after his liver had failed due to rat poison. (Representational Image)
A 13-year-old boy who attempted suicide after allegedly being sodomised was declared dead at the KEM Hospital in the wee hours of Tuesday. The boy, along with a 10-year-old friend, had reportedly consumed rat poison mixed in a soft drink on July 12. While the 10-year-old passed away the same day, the 13-year-old remained in a critical condition at the KEM Hospital, where he was declared dead Tuesday morning.
Zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police N D Reddy said, “The boy passed away in the wee hours.” The boy had been critical over the past few days after his liver had failed due to rat poison.
Meanwhile, the police on Tuesday exhumed the body of the 10-year-old boy from a graveyard in Powai so that a post-mortem could be carried out. “After obtaining due permissions, in the presence of a magistrate and a doctor, the remains of the 10-year-old were exhumed. The remains have been sent to J J Hospital where a post-mortem will be carried out. It should clarify whether the boy too was sexually assaulted and if he died due to the poisoning.”
Soon after the 10-year-old had passed away on July 12, the family members had carried out the burial rites. The boy’s father had not allowed the doctors to conduct a post-mortem. The father told the police that as per their family doctor, the 10-year-old had passed away due to dehydration. It was only after the 13-year-old, who was battling for his life managed to tell his mother that both he and the 10-year-old had been sexually assaulted and had decided to commit suicide together that the police suspected that the 10-year-old too may have faced assault. Based on the statement of the boy’s father, the Powai police registered a case under Section 377 (unnatural offences) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The police have not yet been able to track down the accused.
