Chennai: Class IV boy battles for life after gang assaults him for resisting advances – Times of India

CHENNAI: A Class IV boy is battling for life in a government hospital after a gang of four men assaulted him when he resisted their sexual advances in Maduravoyal on Saturday.
The boy suffered severe injuries all over the body, police said, adding that three people including a minor have been detained for questioning in this connection.
The nine-year-old student of a government school, a police officer said, was a resident of a quiet locality in Maduravoyal and sold snacks near a theatre in the neighbourhood in the evening.
On Saturday evening, he went to his usual spot to do business but did not return home. His family members panicked and lodged a complaint at the Maduravoyal police station. A special team after a search found him under the Maduravoyal flyover with serious injuries and rushed him to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.
After doctors provided initial treatment, the boy regained consciousness and told investigators that four men including a minor came to the spot where he stood on two two-wheelers and offered to buy all his snacks if he would go with them. “He accompanied them thinking that he could sell the snacks immediately and return home,” said an officer.
They, however, took him to an isolated place where the men tried to force him into homosexual activities. The boy panicked and began to cry out for help when they gagged him. The boy continued to resist when the men gave up their attempt and began to hurl stones at him and beat him with logs they found on the roadside, the officer said.
The four then left him for dead and sped away on their vehicles. The boy managed to crawl underneath the flyover where the police team found him. After looking through footage from CCTV cameras at the spot, police picked up a minor and two others for questioning.
A preliminary probe revealed that the gang members had been under the influence of ganja when they targeted the boy. Police said the gang may have been involved in snatching and robbery cases after taking ganja and are probing to find out if the boy was their first target or if the gang members tried to sexually assaulted other children too.
The boy’s family had been struggling to make ends meet since the onset of the pandemic and he had been sent to sell snacks to augment the income.
The latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report shows 1.28 lakh cases of crimes against children were registered across India in 2020 and that 640 of the victims were below six years and 2,540 between 6 and 12 years.
(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect his privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)