Delhi: 15-year-old involved in 8 cases of rape taken into custody

In a shocking case in Delhi, a 15-year-old boy allegedly involved in eight cases of sexual assault has been arrested by the Delhi Police and sent to a remand home. According to a report on CNN-IBN,  out of the eight cases of alleged sexual assault, only three were reported to the police.

The report adds that victims in the other five cases did not go to the police. The report notes that it was only in one of the cases, when the CCTV footage matched with the description given by the rape survivor, that the police in Amar Colony arrested the boy.

According to a report in Hindustan Times , in one case, the boy, who works at a local eatery, raped a ten-year-old girl at a “nearby godown,” in the area.

In the second case, the accused “raped a seven-year-old”, add the report. The seven-year-old girl’s father told the police that the accused took her to “the terrace of an under-construction building near Garhi village in the neighbourhood and raped her.” The father also stated that the boy tried to strangle the girl but she escaped.

The HT report notes that the accused, who is an orphan living with his grandmother, has had a disturbed childhood. In fact the police arrested him from “a juvenile drug de-addiction centre in south-east Delhi where he was under treatment.”

The report also indicates that the accused might have himself been a victim of sexual abuse when he was young as a neighbour reportedly raped him at the age of seven.

While more details are waited on the case, there’s no doubt that this latest incident will be seen as another confirmation of rising juvenile crimes and used to push for changes in the law.

Currently the law says that a juvenile accused (one who is under the age of 18) can only be sentenced to a maximum of three years to a Juvenile Home.

In August , the Cabinet cleared a proposal to amend the Juvenile Justice Act. Under the amendment, the Juvenile Justice Board will be empowered to decide whether a juvenile above 16 years involved in heinous crimes such as rape is to be sent to a observation home or tried in a regular court. The amendment states that even if a juvenile involved in a heinous crime is tried under the tried under the provisions of JJ Act or under the provisions of IPC, he or she will not be sentenced to death or life imprisonment.

In the latest case, the accused if convicted is still 15 years-old and is unlikely to be tried by the new law should that come in place. If he convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of three years.