Police action against 5 minor students for sexually abusing Class 9 student

Ahmedabad: An FIR was registered on Sunday against five minor residents of a school hostel in Pachccham village of Dhandhuka district allegedly for physically and sexually assaulting a Class 9 student. "The incident came to light only after a video went viral on Facebook," said SP Om Prakash Jat.
"The five students are seniors to the victim. They were trying to bully the Class 9 student, who is a no-nonsense student. One of the students reportedly had unnatural sex with the victim while three others attempted it. The fifth student was involved in making the video," said Jat.
He said that the investigative team promptly identified the victim after the video surfaced on Facebook. The police then reached out to the victim's parents, offering counselling and guidance.
"The parents were initially under the impression that there was a scuffle between the children and hence they worked out a compromise among themselves. Once the video was received by the cops and shown to them, they were in shock and later agreed to file the complaint," Jat said.
The SP said that assistant superintendent of police Vagisha Joshi and Dhandhuka police inspector were instructed to conduct a detailed enquiry into the matter. A dedicated team was dispatched to the school to investigate the incident, he said. "After an initial enquiry, the police apprehended the five students and sent to the Juvenile Justice Board," Jat said.
"An FIR was registered against the five minor accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and the relevant provisions under the BNS and the Information Technology Act. As the accused are minors, they will be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board. We will report to the court that according to the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, they may be treated as adults. Juveniles between 16 and 18 years of age can be tried as adults for heinous offences, which are defined as those with a minimum punishment of seven years or more, after a preliminary assessment by the Juvenile Justice Board," he said.
The cops said that the investigating team is probing whether similar incidents have occurred in the hostel on earlier occasions too. "The role and responsibilities of the school management in ensuring a safe environment for the students are also being probed. We are also probing if the school authorities were aware of the incident and, if they were aware of the incident, why did not they come forward and take action against the accused," Jat said.
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"This incident is one of the most shocking incidents of my career. We reaffirm our zero-tolerance policy against any crime perpetrated against children. Strict action will be taken against those found responsible. The victim is receiving comprehensive support, including counselling from the Child Welfare Committee, and a follow-up will be ensured to secure compensation under the Victim Compensation Scheme | Om Prakash Jat, SP