Delhi rape: ‘He was being sexually assaulted for 3-4 days, he told us only later’

The 10-year-old died on Saturday after battling for his life since September 22 at Delhi’s government’s Lok Nayak Hospital, where he was admitted after he complained of “unbearable pain”

After the 10-year-old boy, who was raped and brutally assaulted on September 18 by his two friends and a cousin, all aged 10-12 years, died early Saturday, his family said the child was being sexually assaulted for at least three-four days before he finally told them about it.

According to police’s sequence of events, the boy was raped by at least three other minor boys who lived in the same north-east Delhi locality. Two of them have been apprehended. (HT Photo)

The child was battling for his life since September 22 at Delhi’s government’s Lok Nayak Hospital, where he was admitted after he complained of “unbearable pain”. Doctors who treated the boy said his injuries were so severe that it was difficult for him to bounce back. He suffered a cardiac arrest and developed sepsis from the wounds in his private parts,which were left untreated for days after the incident.

The family on Saturday claimed that they did not remember exactly when the boy told them about the assault, but insisted that they informed the police ”just as soon as they got to know”.

But police believe that there was a delay of three to four days in informing them and getting him proper medical help, and that delay cost the boy his life.

He resided with his parents, both daily wage labourers, his twin sister and another sibling, in a 8X10 feet room located off a narrow lane in the Seelampur area, a neighbourhood mostly populated by daily wagers.

According to the family, they saw him limping and walking with difficulty on September 15, but thought nothing of it other than that he must have fell somewhere.

Two-three days later, the boy’s 30-year-old aunt who lives nearby, said he came home with bruises and told them that he fell. “When the pain became unbearable, he confided in his mother. “If I tell you the truth, will you hit me or scold me?”,” the sister quoted him as asking his mother before he narrated the ordeal.

Police, however, have a different take. They suspect that the family hid the incident from doctors and didn’t report the matter because they were trying to protect a relative, who was later apprehended.

According to investigators, the mother of the child “wasn’t cooperative” and was hesitant to share details of the incident and the accused boys because one of them was a relative. “His infection and health condition got worse because the family treated him at home for three days when he needed immediate medical attention,” an officer said.

According to police’s sequence of events, the boy was taken to Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital between September 18 and 20 but the family did not inform doctors about the sexual assault.

On September 21, he was taken to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital where doctors told the family that they should take him to a “bigger” facility.

In a video recorded by the family on September 21, the boy can be seen and heard sharing names of two boys who had sexually assaulted him and giving a graphic account of the assault. “They made me breathless... I am in so much pain... they threw me from the roof...” he can be heard in the video.

“He said he was being sexually assaulted by the boys for three-four days but the assault on September 18 was the most brutal,” said his aunt.

Finally, on September 22, he was taken to Lok Nayak Hospital’s emergency after his condition deteriorated. It was the hospital staff who informed the police about the sexual assault.

But holding up their phone’s call logs, the family on Saturday claimed that it was they who informed the police about the incident on the emergency number 112 around 6am, September 22.

“We called the police and informed them that our child was raped. A police van came to our house and also an ambulance which took him to the hospital,” his aunt said.

Responding to the claim, a senior police officer said a call was received from the family on 112 on September 22, “but they only asked for ambulance; they did not report the sexual assault.”

Police maintained that they were informed about the sexual assault by Lok Nayak Hospital on September 22 after he was admitted there.

On Saturday, as the child’s body lay in the middle of an empty courtyard near his home, his distraught mother kept crying “for justice” even as her family and neighbours tried to console her.

The whole neighbourhood, too, turned up to mourn the “chirpy boy who wouldn’t stop talking”.

“He was a talkative child and would roam around the neighbourhood all day playing with other children and talking to everyone. His speech wasn’t very clear but he made sure everyone understood what he said,” a neighbour said.

Among those who mourned him was his paternal aunt, whose minor son has been apprehended in connection with the case.

She said her son has been wrongly implicated, a claim that was supported by the victim boy’s family as well.

The aunt, who is separated from her husband, lives in an 8X10 feet room with her two children, right next to the victim’s family. She denied some media reports that there was no feud between the two families.

“My nephew did not name my son. He mentioned the name of another boy, but that also happened to be my son’s name. If my nephew had to name my son then he would have first told his family,” she said.

The victim’s sister also said her brother did not name their cousin. “He mentioned a name that is the same as my cousin’s but he said it’s not him,” she said.