Five juveniles have been sent to a detention centre in connection with the sexual assault and murder of a 12-year-old boy in Nayagarh, Odisha, with police revealing the victim had survived a previous attempt on his life by the same group just days before the fatal attack.
The victim, a student at a local madrassa, was reported missing on September 2. His body was discovered the following day in an abandoned septic tank near the institution.
Nayagarh Additional Superintendent of Police, Subash Chandra Panda, was cited by TOI as saying that the investigation had uncovered a harrowing sequence of events. “We have sent the five children in conflict with law (CCL) to a juvenile detention centre. During investigation, we found that they had attempted to kill the boy on August 31. Fortunately, he survived then,” Panda stated.
The five accused, aged between 13 and 15 and all students at the same madrassa, are alleged to have been responsible for both attacks.
Police said they had gathered strong evidence, including CCTV footage that purportedly shows the group leading the boy to a secluded area where they were last seen together.
As described to TOI by ASP Panda, the motive for the murder emerged from the victim’s threat to expose ongoing sexual abuse. “Two of them forced the boy to indulge in unnatural sex with them. When he threatened to expose them, the five strangled him to death and dumped his body in the septic tank,” he said.
The investigation further revealed that the main accused, a 15-year-old, had been coercing the younger boy into an unnatural relationship for several months prior to the killing. The victim, fearing humiliation, had never reported the abuse to the madrassa authorities, his family, or the police.
“On Sept 2, two of the CCL sexually assaulted the boy. The two, accompanied by three others, later strangled the boy to death and disposed of his body in the tank after he threatened to report the abuse,” ASP Panda elaborated, as per TOI. He added that the juveniles behaved normally after the alleged crime in an attempt to avoid suspicion.
The madrassa, which currently has 16 students aged 12 to 15, along with three teaching staff and a cook, is said to be cooperating with the investigation.
Its authorities were unavailable for direct comment. Police officials have stated that the boy’s family will be provided support as per the law.
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