CHENNAI: A 15-year-old boy from Madhya Pradesh, who had run away from his house and was allegedly assaulted sexually by two men at Chennai Central railway station in November, died at Government Stanley Medical College Hospital (GSMCH) on Sunday.
A senior official from the hospital said while the boy, sheltered at a government-run home since the assault, was treated after the incident in November for “multiple assault”, the infection for which he was admitted again on Sunday was unrelated to the assault. However, he added the postmortem report would offer more clarity. A separate case of unnatural death has been registered by the police.
Meanwhile, the police officials tried to downplay the FIR they had filed in November under sections of the Pocso Act, while acknowledging that they are not able to trace the perpetrators and are still awaiting results of forensic analysis, for which samples taken from the boy were sent in November.
Though the assault allegedly occurred in daylight at the station that has surveillance cameras, sources with the Government Railway Police (GRP) claimed CCTV footage did not corroborate the boy’s allegations. However, the FIR has neither been closed as a case of Mistake of Fact or altered to drop sections of Posco Act yet.
A GRP source contended the boy had retracted his earlier statement. Moreover, the boy’s family, when contacted, said they had abandoned him as he had a history of running away from home. “We have now informed them about his death,” the source said.
Sources in other government departments that deal with Pocso cases, however, cited possible lapses in the investigation, as the boy did not speak the local language. “We were initially informed he had been sexually assaulted. We don’t know what evidence the police have now to claim otherwise,” a source said.
After reaching Chennai on November 27 last year, the boy later got admitted to GSMCH with bleeding injuries, and told doctors he had been sexually assaulted by two men at the station. Police sources on Tuesday told TNIE those injuries were due to “urinary infections and anal fissures”.
They said they visited his home in MP during investigation and found he met with a major accident three years ago, requiring an implant in his thigh, following which he frequently faced health issues. He was taken to GSMCH on Sunday from the government home in Kannagi Nagar. “CT scan revealed infections in the pelvic region. However, he died before we could treat further,” the official added.
(With inputs from Sinduja Jane @ Chennai)