BARNALA: A 16-year-old boy was on Wednesday detained on charges of sexually exploiting a four-year-old girl, the police said. While the girl is being medically examined at the Barnala civil hospital, the boy will also undergo the examination to ascertain whether he actually raped the minor.
A case has been registered at the Dhanaula police station under Section 376AB (punishment for rape on woman under 12 years of age) of the IPC and under the provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and the Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Sources said the boy took the girl residing in his neighbourhood to his home on the pretext of giving her toffee on Wednesday afternoon. As the girl’s mother went around looking for her, she could not be found. After some time, the girl returned home bleeding from her private parts and writhing in pain.
A shocked mother immediately informed the police.
Barnala senior superintendent of police (SSP) said a complaint was filed by the mother of the girl accusing the boy of sexually exploiting her daughter.
“The accused boy has been detained. Their medical examination is being conducted at the Barnala civil hospital. superintendent of police(headquarters) Harwant Kaur and s ub-inspector Rajpal Kaur are looking into the case,” he said.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)