Teenager accused of raping Class 4 student for months, held

GURUGRAM: A 16-year-old boy was detained on Thursday after a Class IV student had allegedly he raped and threatened her for months. She overcame her fear and confided in her classmates. The girls informed their class teacher, who approached the principal.
The 11-year-old girl and her class teacher lodged a complaint at DLF-1 police station on Wednesday night. Hours later, police picked up the boy, who is known to the girl’s family, lived in the same neighbourhood and had access to their house. The teenager allegedly visited the house when the girl’s parents were away. “She told us her neighbour would assault her regularly and she felt immense pain but he gagged her or covered her mouth to silence her. He threatened to kill her if she spoke to anybody,” said Nirmala Sheoran, principal of the government school in which the girl studies.

The boy was produced before the Juvenile Justice board and sent to a shelter home in Faridabad. The girl’s family later visited the police station and demanded harsh punishment for the boy. “We are shocked and feel betrayed as this boy would come to our house frequently and is well known to us. We never suspected him,” the girl’s father said. Police said the girl’s statement had been officially recorded before a magistrate.

Inspector Kailash Yadav, SHO of DLF-1 police station, said the boy is a school dropout and lived with his family, who do odd jobs and wash and iron clothes for a living. The boy helped with that, police said. “The assault went on for several months and the girl was in fear. The accused was familiar with the girl’s family and took advantage of that,” Yadav said.