Bhubaneswar: Five minor students of a madrasa in Odisha’s Nayagarh district were sent to a juvenile home for allegedly murdering their 12-year-old classmate after sexually abusing him for nearly a year, police said.
The deceased’s body was found in an abandoned septic tank in the madrasa on September 3, two days after he went missing. “The body was discovered floating in around 1pm, alongside a dog’s carcass,” an officer said
The minor, who had been a boarder at the madrasa for about a year, went missing around 2pm on September 2, Nayagarh additional superintendent of police Subash Chandra Panda, who headed the investigation, said.
“The accused had been forcing unnatural sexual relations with the victim for nearly a year. When the victim resisted and threatened to inform his parents, the accused, along with others, subjected him to physical and mental torture,” Panda added.
Police investigations revealed that the boy was strangled to death by the five classmates when he resisted and threatened to inform his parents about the sexual abuse. “The body was then dumped in the septic tank, and the perpetrators informed the headmaster that the boy was missing,” an officer said.
Panda said that the madrasa authorities informed his family at 4pm. “When the father and uncle arrived at 7pm and searched the premises, they found no help from the madrasa authorities regarding CCTV footage access,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Panda said that the madrasa authorities informed his family at 4pm. “When the father and uncle arrived at 7pm and searched the premises, they found no help from the madrasa authorities regarding CCTV footage access,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Police interrogated 15 students and zeroed in on a 15-year-old student who turned out to be the mastermind behind the murder.
The boys allegedly tried killing the deceased before too. “The five boys first attempted to kill the victim by pushing him into the toilet tank on August 31, but he survived with only a minor head injury. However, the victim was too terrified and did not report the matter to the teachers and his own family,” Panda said.
The Nayagarh Juvenile Court on Saturday remanded the five accused minors to Angul Juvenile Home for 13 days .