4-Year-Old Boy Sexually Assaults Classmate In India, School Accused Of Negligence: Reports

A 4-year-old boy was accused of sexually assaulting his classmate in New Delhi. The incident took place last week when the two children were alone in their classroom at Maxfort School in the west Delhi.

The shocking incident came to light after the parents of the victim — a 4-year-old girl — told police that their daughter returned from school last Friday and complained of pain in her genitalia. A medical examination confirmed that the minor was sexually assaulted.

The girl reportedly told her mother that her classmate assaulted her using a pencil and his finger in an empty classroom. The parents of the girl accused the school management of negligence. The mother also claimed that the school offered no help after learning of the incident.

"Various aspects are being analyzed. We are also looking for CCTV footage or if anything was captured. The medical report of the victim will also be looked into," Delhi Police's spokesman Dependra Pathak said, Indian news network Zee News reported.

A case of rape under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 21 of the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was filed by the Delhi Police after the girl's mother reported the incident. The POSCO Act was formulated in 2012 in order to effectively address sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children. However, police are unsure as to how to go ahead with the proceedings because of the age of the accused as well as the victim.

"The Indian Penal Code provides children below seven years of age certain protections against prosecutions. We are examining those provisions even as we are handling the matter with the highest degree of sensitivity," Pathak added.

Dr. Samir Parikh, the director of Fortis Healthcare’s department of mental health and behavioral sciences told Hindustan Times, an Indian newspaper: "We must understand that it is absolutely not possible for a 4-year-old to understand sexual behavior. Is there a possibility of a sexual need being fulfilled in his case? Absolutely not."

The girl was given counseling by the Delhi Commission for Women, as she was traumatized following the incident, the mother said.

Talking to the Hindustan Times, the girl's mother said: "Since I had trained my daughter about the concepts of 'right' and 'wrong' touch, she knew right from the beginning that whatever was happening to her was not right. At the school, she had tried to push the boy away from her. When she returned home, she kept drawing my attention to her pain and injury to her private parts."

The girl's mother also raised concerns about the "alarming situation at the school's level with teachers not being attentive to see what is happening in the classroom."

Meanwhile, the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights summoned the principal and three staff members of the school.