Dad Of Boy Accused Of Sexual Assault Beats Up Father Of 7-Year-Old Victim

The father of a 12-year-old boy who allegedly sexually assaulted a 7-year-old girl has been arrested for attacking the girl's parents in Vikhroli in Mumbai, India, Monday.

The father and son were registered for two offenses – one against the minor boy under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the other against his father in connection with the attack, The Times of India reported.

The parents of the minors involved in the case are daily wage earners and reside in a chawl, a type of residential tenement building typically associated with poor working-class people, in Vikhroli East. The families were neighbors.

According to police, the boy allegedly sexually assaulted the girl Monday while the parents of the children were away.

"In the evening, when her parents returned, the girl narrated her ordeal. Her parents then went to the neighboring house to question the boy and confront his parents. This led to a heated argument in which the boy's father beat up the girl's parents. Other neighbors came to their rescue," a police official, who was not named, said, according to the Times of India.

The girl's parents then went to Vikhroli police and filed a complaint.

"We have registered an offense against the boy under Pocso, but since he is a juvenile, he has not been arrested. However, the boy's father has been placed under arrest for assault, and further probe is underway," said Subhada Chavan, a senior inspector of Vikhroli police.

In April, a case was also registered at the Thane police station against a 9-year-old boy for allegedly sexually assaulting a 4-and-a-half-year-old girl in his neighborhood in Maharashtra, India Today reported.

A police official said that the victim's mother filed a complaint alleging that on April 3, the boy, under the pretext of playing, brought the girl to an isolated place and sexually assaulted her.

The alleged incident, which came to light after the girl complained about the pain she experienced in her private parts, happened in Ulhasnagar town.

An offense under IPC section 376 (rape) and relevant provisions of the POCSO Act was registered at Vitthalwadi police station.