10-year-old boy dies after sexual assault in N-E Delhi

The boy died at around 6.30am on Saturday, said Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director of Lok Nayak Hospital.

A 10-year-old boy, who was brutally assaulted and raped on September 18 by three boys aged 10-12 years, died of complications from his injuries early Saturday morning at the Lok Nayak Hospital, hospital authorities and police said.

10-year-old boy dies after sexual assault in N-E Delhi (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The child was running a high fever all through Friday night, and his vital signs started deteriorating early Saturday morning, the boy’s family said. Doctors tried to revive him but failed to save his life. The accused allegedly inserted a rod in the boy’s rectum and beat him up with bricks, police said.

“He was running a high fever all night so I was giving him cold compresses. After some time, a nurse came to examine his vitals and I moved aside,” the boy’s mother said. “A few minutes later, a group of doctors rushed in and started vigorously pushing his chest. Then they said he was no more.”

The boy died at around 6.30am on Saturday, said Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director of Lok Nayak Hospital. “He died of multi-organ failure. He developed sepsis and also had a cardiac arrest a few days back. He was on ventilator support,” Dr Kumar said.

Two minors have been apprehended in the case and, after the boy’s death, Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) will be added to the charge sheet that already includes the offences of sections 377 (unnatural offences) and 34 (acts done by several people with common intention) of IPC and relevant sections of the Protection of children from sexual offences (POCSO) Act, a Delhi police officer said.

Doctors who treated the boy said his injuries were so severe that it was difficult to survive them. He suffered a cardiac arrest and developed sepsis from the wounds in his private parts that were untreated for days after the incident.

The 10-year-old resident of east Delhi’s Seelampur was allegedly raped and assaulted on September 18 by three minors aged 10-12 years, including a cousin. The boy was called out of his house on the pretext of playing cricket.

The family and the doctors also said that sharp objects were inserted into his private parts. He was also beaten with blunt objects, possibly bricks, they said. There were injuries on his chest and head and there were signs that he was kicked several times on his private parts. He was brought to the Delhi government’s Lok Nayak Hospital on September 22, when rape and physical assault were confirmed by doctors.

“The injuries were very severe, and on top of that, he was not given any medical attention for nearly four days since the incident,” a doctor who treated him said on condition of anonymity. “He developed an infection and, as a result of this, his organs started shutting down. Two days back, he also had a cardiac arrest.”

“We cannot say for certain, but if he had received medical attention early, there would have been a better chance of survival,” the doctor added.

Another doctor in the emergency wing of Lok Nayak Hospital, who was among the first to attend to the boy, said that the family had brought him with a wound on his leg.

“They first said that he had a wound on his leg but that looked old,” he said, wishing anonymity. “The gravity of the situation was revealed only later.”

Delhi Police has been asked to appear before the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Monday to provide details about the investigation, DCW chief Swati Maliwal said.

“The family had contacted the police but an FIR (first information report) was registered only after DCW intervened in this case. The injuries are so brutal. The police need to investigate if there is an involvement of an older teenager or an adult. The possibility of such violent injuries being inflicted only by 10-12-year-olds is slim,” said Maliwal.