A  Nine-year-old boy has been charged for allegedly raping a six-year-old girl in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, following which he was arrested. Medical examination of the girl on Friday confirms the sexual assault, following which an FIR was registered and the boy has been sent to a juvenile home in Bareilly. The boy could possibly be the youngest ever person booked for rape, says the police in UP.

The incident took place on Thursday when the two children were playing in a field. Brother of the victim said, “My sister, who is around six years old, went out to buy chocolate when the boy asked her to play with him. He took her to a nearby field, where he raped her. When my sister returned after some time, she was crying in pain and bleeding. She narrated her entire ordeal to us.”

Parents of the girl alleged that cops were reluctant to file the FIR and acted only after a group of people from the Jatav community protested outside the police station. “It is really unbelievable as I wasn’t convinced with the allegations of rape by a nine-year-old kid, but he admitted to the charges. Since the matter comes under the SC/ST Act, we filed the complaint,” said Dalbeer Verma, station officer, Neuria police station.

“The boy looked quite scared. His first reaction to police questioning was, ‘khel khel mai ho gaya‘ (we were just playing),” Verma said. A case has been registered against the boy under the SC/ST Act as the girl belongs to the Jatav community.

Nirmal Bisht, the circle officer who is investigating the case, said, “We have presented the boy in front of the magistrate. He has been sent to the juvenile home in Bareilly. The boy has accepted the charges and medical examination of the girl has confirmed rape. The age of the boy is yet to be confirmed but can’t be more than 10 years.”