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Bihar boy, 17, detained in child sex abuse case, found dead in observation home
The 17-year-old, a resident of Buxar, was detained in a Pocso case 10 days ago and produced before a juvenile justice board in Bihar’s Aurangabad
PATNA: A 17-year-old boy detained in Bihar’s Aurangabad on charges of sexual abuse of a minor was found hanging in the bathroom of an observation home on Thursday, officials said on Friday.
The boy, a resident of Buxar 100km away, was an accused in a case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. He was produced before the juvenile justice board which sent him to the observation home 10 days ago.
Police said the boy was reported to have been found hanging from a towel tied to a ventilation window of a bathroom in the government observation home for boys. He was taken to the Sadar hospital but doctors said he was already dead.
Muffasil police station chief Rajesh Kumar said the police learnt about his death in the morning. Kumar said the police were waiting for a post-mortem report that would indicate the precise cause of death.
The observation home officials told the police that the boy died by suicide.
Aurangabad district magistrate Srikant Shastri said that he has constituted a three-member committee to probe the incident and ordered a magisterial inquiry. The autopsy will be conducted in the presence of a magistrate-rank officer, Shastri said.
Assistant director, child protection, Anita Kumari said the teenager, like other inmates, turned up at the pre-dinner headcount of the inmates at 9:30pm and subsequently went to the mess for dinner. After his dinner, the 17-year-old went to the bathroom on the first floor, locked the door from inside and hanged himself. The incident came to light when other inmates found the bathroom locked for a long time and complained that no one was responding to their calls.
The Bihar State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (BSCPCR) has taken cognisance of the incident and sought a detailed report.
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