Student sodomised for 2 years by 5 minors at MP hostel

A Class 8 student studying in a government-run school in Narmadapuram district of Madhya Pradesh was allegedly sodomised by his five seniors multiple times, police said on Tuesday.

The victim alleged that he was being sexually assaulted for nearly two years, they said.

"The Class 8 student and his family member lodged the complaint on Monday. The student had got admission in the government boarding school in July 2022 and was living in its hostel, where his five senior students sexually exploited him," Dehat (rural) police station in-charge Praveen Chouhan said.

As per the complaint, the boy was last sexually exploited in December 2023, he said.

The accused were then booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 377 (unnatural sex), 294 (obscene act), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) besides provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

All the five accused and the victim are minors, Chouhan said.

Further legal steps will be taken on the basis of facts emerging during the course of investigation, he said.

The student said that when he shared his ordeal to his father, the latter complained to the school principal about it. However, he did not take any action in the matter, following which they approached the police.