A video clip that they had shot from their mobile phone of a gangrape to threaten the victim girl into silence ultimately proved to be the nemesis for four teenaged boys who had sexually assaulted a five-year-old girl at one of the accused boys’ home at Malad in North Mumbai early this month.
The crime, who took place on November 8, came to light on Wednesday, when the victim girl’s aunt received the video clip of the act on her mobile through WhatsApp.
Arrested by the Malad police on the basis of a complaint lodged by the victim girl’s aunt, the four youngsters are now cooling their heels at the Dongri children’s remand home in South Mumbai.
“The four minor boys, whom the Malad police arrested yesterday, were produced before a juvenile court which remanded them in custody for 15 days. They have been sent to Dongri children’s remand home,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni told “The Pioneer” here on Friday evening.
The police said that the incident took place in the house of the victim girl’s friend on November 8. “When a boy friend called her to help him in his studies, an unsuspecting victim girl went to the friend’s place where there were already three more boys – all in the age group of 15-16 years. There was no one else at the accused boy’s home when victim girl went there. Taking advantage of the situation, the four boys allegedly raped the girl in turns and recorded the act on their mobile phone,” a senior police officer said.
After allegedly committing sexual assault on the victim girl, the four boy threatened her that they would circulate the video clip if she either went to the police or spoke about it to anyone.
The scared victim girl chose to keep quiet. However, one of the boys happened to share the video clip of the sexual act with a friend through his mobile phone.
Before long, the video clip went viral, so much so that the victim girl’s aunt also received the video clip on her mobile, through WhatsApp.
The victim girl, whose father is no more and mother is away from the country, lives with her sister, aunt and grandmother, in the same northern suburb of Malad as the accused.
A shocked aunt showed the video clip to the victim girl who broke down and narrated the incident to the former. The aunt lodged a complaint with the Malad police identifying the four minor boys involved in the incident.
Acting on the complaint, the police registered an FIR and arrested the four boys.
The accused minor boys have been booked under section 376 (g) of the Indian Penal Code and other relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Police said that after the expiry of a 15-day remand, they would seek extension in the remand of the four accused boys.
The four minor boys will be tried before the Juvenile Justice Board located at Sandhrust Road in south-central Mumbai.