Class 5 student accused of raping 7-year-old girl in school washroom in India

In a shocking incident, a Class 5 student in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has been accused of raping his seven-year-old schoolmate.

Police in the city of Sahibabad registered a case against the boy for rape under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, according to Indian daily, the Times of India.

According to the police complaint filed on Sunday (3 December), the boy inserted an object into the victim's private parts on 8 November, which caused her to bleed.

"The parents of the minor girl said the incident took place inside the washroom of the school on 8 November. The district magistrate had declared an off that day on account of rising pollution, but the message could not be conveyed to all the parents and students reached the school," Rakesh Kumar Singh, station house officer said.

"We took her for a check-up to a local doctor, who did not find anything seriously amiss with her. We thought the bleeding could be a result of eating hot and spicy food, and changed her diet. However, it didn't stop. On Friday, we took her to a female doctor, who confirmed sexual assault. The doctor took her into confidence at her clinic, following which she narrated the sequence of events," the girl's father told the Times of India newspaper.

On Monday, the police accompanied the girl and her parents to school, where the Class 2 student identified the accused in the presence of the school principal and teachers.

The boy had allegedly inserted a "wooden twig" into the girl's private parts, which caused the injuries.

The police are awaiting the report of a medical examination conducted on the girl on Monday. The school management also said an inquiry was being conducted into the incident.

The Uttar Pradesh school incident comes on the heels of another incident where a four-and-a-half-year-old boy was accused of raping his classmate in India's capital Delhi. In her complaint to the police, the victim's mother had said that the boy used his finger and a sharpened pencil to assault her daughter. The boy is likely to be the youngest to be charged for rape under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under Posco, Indian daily DNA, reported.