Teenage boys in critical condition after gang put chilli powder and petrol on their privates

Two teenage boys were admitted to a hospital in critical condition after they were allegedly tortured and sexually assaulted for over five hours by a group of men in the Indian capital of New Delhi, police said on Sunday (5 November).

Police have reportedly arrested two of the accused on Saturday (4 November) evening based on the victims' complaint, who said the men put chilli powder and petrol on their private parts and burned them with cigarettes.

The complaint also stated that the boys, aged 13 and 15, were stripped naked and ordered to perform sex acts on each other, which was filmed and circulated online.

The incident took place on 26 October, but the victims' families approached police only after they spotted the assault videos on social media, a report by the Indo-Asian News Service said.

According to the police, the two victims are friends and live with their families in Metro Vihar area in west Delhi.

They named 10 men in their complaint, one of whom — Kanwar Singh — called the boys to his home for questioning, suspecting them of involvement in a theft at his residence.

Singh's men first summoned the 13-year-old boy, who was beaten up with leather belts to force him to confess to the theft. When he refused, the men brought his friend to Singh's residence and forced them to strip, according to the complaint.

They forced the boys to perform sexual acts on each other and filmed it. They also threatened to post it online if they went to the police, a senior officer told the news agency. The boys were tortured for more than five hours.

All 10 men named in the assault case have been charged with unnatural sex and other offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Delhi Police Special Commissioner and Chief PRO Dependra Pathak said.

The victims were currently in a local hospital undergoing treatment. IBTimes UK tried to reach out to the hospital and are awaiting information on the victims' condition.