Five minor students residing in a school hostel in Pachccham village, Dhandhuka district, Gujarat, have been arrested following allegations of physical and sexual assault against a Class 9 student. An FIR was registered on Sunday after a disturbing video of the incident went viral on Facebook.
"The incident came to light only after a video went viral on Facebook," stated SP Om Prakash Jat. "The five students are seniors to the victim. They were trying to bully the Class 9 student, who is a no-nonsense student. One of the students reportedly had unnatural sex with the victim while three others attempted it. The fifth student was involved in making the video."
The investigative team swiftly identified the victim after the video surfaced, and police reached out to his parents, offering counseling and guidance. "The parents were initially under the impression that there was a scuffle between the children and hence they worked out a compromise among themselves. Once the video was received by the cops and shown to them, they were in shock and later agreed to file the complaint," Jat explained.
Describing the incident as "horrifying," SP Ahmedabad Rural, Om Prakash Jat, emphasized the victim's trauma. "The victim was so traumatized by the brutality that he could not even muster the courage to inform even his parents, let alone the school authorities. The five senior students repeatedly assaulted him, attempting to insert a wooden stick into his private parts, subjecting him to relentless abuse."
The accused have been charged under stringent sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the IT Act, along with provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, highlighting the severity of the crime. The education department has been urged to take immediate action, and officials have launched an investigation to ascertain if similar incidents have occurred in the past and to examine the role of school management in student safety.