MALAPPURAM: The 15-year-old boy who was detained for attacking and trying to rape a 23-year-old woman in Kondotty has been shifted to the juvenile observation home in Kozhikode. The boy will have to spend two weeks in the observation home. The boy, who attempted to rape the woman on Monday, was taken into custody by the police on Tuesday.
The police produced him before the district Juvenile Justice Board which sent him to the observation home in the night. Mohamed Haris Pachily, a member of the board, told TNIE that the boy would be counselled at the observation home in these two weeks.
“The boy’s lawyer can move a bail application, but the board will take a decision based on the reports of the counsellors, district child protection unit and police,” he said. He also said the IQ test to decide on the boy’s maturity will not be conducted as he is aged below 16.
“He is 15 years and 10 months old. After studying the case in detail, the board will decide whether he should be rehabilitated with the help of government project Kaval,” he added. Earlier, Kondotty police had made it clear that the boy attacked the woman with the intention of rape.
He followed her as she walked from her home to Kottukkara junction, dragged her to a nearby plantain farm and tried to rape her. Police said the woman escaped because of her willpower and luck. After the boy was detained, district police chief Sujith Das told reporters that the boy had also choked the woman and hit her face with a stone. The police report on the incident will be crucial during the trial.