Two alarming incidents of rape involving two minors have  sent shock waves across the country.

The first such incident was reported in Tamil Nadu, where a three-year-old died after being raped by a 19-year-old migrant worker from Bihar on Sunday evening. She succumbed following grievous injuries at the Stanley Government Hospital in Chennai on Monday morning.

The accused, identified as Bibin Manji of Musambur in Bihar and has been booked for murder and offences under Sections 5 and 6 of the Pocso Act. Police said that he was employed at a steel unit at the SIPCOT estate near Pudupettai in Tiruvallur district.

According to police, Bibin allegedly enticed the child by offering to buy her snacks, took her to a secluded spot around 200 metres from her house, and abandoned her in bushes after sexually assaulting her.

When the child failed to return after dark, her parents and neighbours searched for her. She was found over two hours later in a thicket with severe injuries and was taken to a government hospital in Gummidipoondi before being referred in critical condition to Stanley Government Hospital in Chennai.

The other incident involved four minors where three minors raped another minor in Bhopal. In a shocking incident, a nine-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by three minors aged 12, 13, and 16 in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh.

All three boys have been booked under Section 70(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which addresses the gang-rape of a minor under 18 years of age, alongside relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. Following an appearance before the Rajgarh juvenile court on Tuesday, the trio was remanded to a juvenile correctional facility in Bhopal.

The assault occurred in a forested area near a village in the Pachore region, about 120 km from the state capital. The victim, a Class V student, had gone to graze goats with a 12-year-old boy. Police said two other boys—a 13-year-old student and a 16-year-old Class VII dropout—later joined them. Investigators alleged that the three boys lured the girl deeper into the forest on the pretext of plucking dates.

Police confirmed the registration of the case and the subsequent transfer of the juveniles to the correctional home in Bhopal following court orders.

(Inputs from the New Indian Express)

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