Two minors detained in siblings sex abuse case, Times of India.
NEW DELHI: Sordid details began to emerge on Saturday of the serial abuse of three siblings — a 12-year-old girl and her two brothers, aged 10 and 7 — by the driver of their school van. Meanwhile, a Tis Hazari court sent the main accused, Lalit Ratawal (32), into police custody for two days. But the police were unable to explain to the court why four of the other accused, all minors, and studying in class VIII and IX of a prominent central Delhi school remained untraced.
Late on Saturday night, however, highly-placed police sources confirmed that two of the accused minors — aged 13 and 14 — have been detained for questioning. ''We might apprehend all the accused soon if the charges are proved,'' said DCP (central) Jaspal Singh.
The abused girl's neighbours and acquaintances alleged that another classmate of hers, who took the same van to school, had also been targeted. However, the investigating officer dismissed the claims. ''Merely levelling allegations is not enough. We need proof,'' he said. Police said the children, were very brutalized and traumatized.
Police said the children had gone into a shell and slipped in academic performance. The cops said there were two reasons why Ratawal could successfully exploit the children — one, they had no father and hence no "strong" guardian to monitor their movements, and two, the three children were the last to get off the van while returning home.
According to the police, the entire chain of injecting drugs, molestation, rape, sodomy and even incest — began after the children's father passed away two years ago. The family, with only limited means of income through rent collection, strived for better education and trusted Ratawal — who had been dropping children to school for the past 12 years.
Ratawal though, going by the mother's account, soon began unfolding his designs. "It all started when my daughter was asked to sit at the front. He began touching her, and when the shocked girl could not protest, he offered a sedative-laced chocolate to her one-and-half years ago. My daughter lost consciousness. She woke up in a house located near Guru Nanak Market in Karol Bagh, along with a senior student who travelled in the same van. Lalit showed her an MMS of her and then raped her. He asked her to keep quiet, threatening that otherwise he would put her pornographic photos on the Net. Then he began abusing my daughter by blackmailing and threatening her," said the victims' mother.
After recording her statement in a local court, the victim told reporters that it was after her mother received a vulgar SMS on her mobile that she began to smell something wrong. "When I told uncle (Lalit) that my mother was angry with the message, he gave me a bottle of poison and asked me to mix it with my mother's food. I destroyed it," alleged the girl.
DCP (Central) Jaspal Singh said the two boys too were forced to have unnatural sex. As Subhas Naagar, who helped the victims lodge a case pointed out, the boys were threatened and even paid to keep silent. "They were drugged and even injected. Most of the victimisation took place when they were conscious or semi-conscious."
The seven-year-old brother of the girl has said he was paid Rs 100 after being abused to "buy whatever he wanted". The mother did speak of the children being forced into incest, but the police denied the claims. "So far, we have also not recovered any videos from the accused's mobile phones. Neither have we come across any new complaint from any other girl travelling in that van. Preliminary probe points to forced drug abuse by the accused," said DCP Singh.
The police are not ruling out active participation of the accused minors. "The girl has alleged that Lalit would pick up the children up from their house and take them to the house of a Class 9 student of the same school. The boy's parents would be out as they are teachers and his friends were present with him," said the investigating officer.
"The girl was put in another school but it took the mother much longer to understand her real troubles. It was 25 days ago that the youngest son told her about their ordeal. When she confronted Lalit, he allegedly threatened her and said he would make the videos public," said an officer.
The police have registered a case under IPC section 376 (Rape), 377 (unnatural sex) and 506 (criminal intimidation). "We have sent the girl to Lady Hardinge for a medical test and rape was confirmed. The boys were sent to Kalavati Hospital and we are waiting for the CFSL report," said
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