New Delhi: A 14-year-old boy, who studies in Class VIII of a government school and works as a scrap collector, met a 28-year-old man in a park two months ago. The boy, who has four siblings, was struggling to survive after his father went missing. He had started his own scrap business to earn some money for food.
He met a tutor, Mohd. Waseem alias Altaf, in a park where he was looking for some food. Altaf offered him some snacks and befriended him. He then lured him to an empty property in Batla House and allegedly sexually assaulted the minor. He also allegedly recorded a video of the assault and used it to blackmail the boy into meeting him.
The sexual assault continued for two months until 30 August, when the minor, allegedly fed up with continued torture and blackmail, slit the man’s throat.
“He comes from a very poor family and this man had met him in a park and offered him food. The boy said during questioning that the man, a private tutor, was blackmailing him and sexually assaulting him. Fed up over it, he killed him. On that day too, the deceased had allegedly called him to the same empty property,” a police source told ThePrint.
DCP (South East) Rajesh Deo said that a PCR call was received about blood splattered in Jamia Nagar the same day in a one-room set.
“The local police reached the spot and a body, aged about 28 years, was found lying on the floor with deep cut injuries on the neck. The deceased was identified as Mohd. Waseem alias Altaf, who worked as a private tutor and resided in a separate property. This property belongs to Altaf’s family, which has been put on rent and vacated a few days ago. The deceased was residing with his family in a property in Zakir Nagar,” the DCP said.
The deceased was unmarried. He had allegedly been threatening the minor that if he didn’t oblige to his demands, he would release the video on social media, police said.
“The minor has been apprehended and the phone of the deceased has been recovered from him. Further investigation is underway,” the DCP added.
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Not a standalone case
This is not an isolated case of a minor killing their abuser in self-defence or frustration.
In April this year, a 16-year-old boy, who had run away from his home to pursue his dream of becoming an actor in Mumbai, reportedly killed a man who had tried to molest him for two months.
The man’s body was found near Red Fort in North Delhi. The police investigation revealed that the boy had met the man, Shambhu, at the Old Delhi Railway station and moved in with him. Shambhu had allegedly attempted to sexually abuse the boy several times. On 14 April, the boy hit Shambhu on the head with a stick and killed him. The minor was sent to an observation home.
Last year, a 13-year-old girl was apprehended by the Rajasthan Police and sent to an observation facility for allegedly killing the man who had been raping her for nearly six months. The deceased had also allegedly forced her to have physical relationships with other men. Fed up with the constant abuse and blackmail, the minor allegedly strangled the man with a cloth piece one night when he had asked her to meet him.
In 2017, a 14-year-old girl, in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly had reportedly killed her alcoholic father after he allegedly attempted to rape her in a drunken state. The minor thrashed him with an iron rod.
Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code defines murder and notes five exceptions, including private defence, and grave and sudden provocation. These lay down circumstances where culpable homicide is not categorised as murder. While murder could warrant punishments — death or life imprisonment — culpable homicide not amounting to murder is considered a lesser offence and warrants lesser punishments.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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