Chhattisgarh Police on Tuesday said it has held a 17-year-old boy for allegedly raping and killing a 10-year-old girl in Bemetara district, which is located 90 km from the state capital Raipur.
The alleged incident happened on Saturday and the boy was detained on Monday, said an official, adding that it happened under the City Kotwali Police Station limits in the district.
The victim was found hanging at her house under mysterious circumstances on Saturday, following which a probe was launched into the incident, Kotwali Station House Officer (SHO) Amber Singh Bhardwaj said, adding a preliminary investigation revealed the girl had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
He said after enquiries with locals, the police zeroed-in on the accused and detained him.
Bhardwaj said, "The accused told the police he was addicted to watching obscene videos on his mobile phone and after watching porn, he barged into the victim's house and sexually assaulted her."
He added that fearing the girl would inform her family, the accused allegedly strangled her with a scarf and hanged her and then fled through the terrace.
A case was registered against the accused under Indian Penal Code Sections 376 (rape), 376 AB (rape on woman under 12 years of age), 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and 450 (house trespass), and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act, said Bhardwaj.
The accused was produced in a local court, which sent him to a juvenile home in Durg district, officials said.
Under POCSO Act, a juvenile aged 16-18 could be tried as an adult if he is accused of a heinous crime and authorities assess they were of the mental state to understand the consequences of their acts.
"In case of a heinous offence alleged to have been committed by a child, who has completed or is above the age of sixteen years, the Board [Juvenile Justice Board] shall conduct a preliminary assessment with regard to his mental and physical capacity to commit such offence, ability to understand the consequences of the offence and the circumstances in which he allegedly committed the offence," states the Juvenile Justice Act, the law governing juvenile accused and criminals.
If the board is satisfied, it can "pass an order that there is a need for a trial of the said child as an adult, then the Board may order the transfer of the trial of the case to the Children’s Court having jurisdiction to try such offences".
Outlook earlier reported that addiction to pornography, along with other factors, can drives minors into crimes.
"Children living on the streets, as young as five or six, are consuming cigarettes and liquor. They could also be exposed to pornography and peers who influence their minds and actions," said lawyer and criminal psychologist Anuja Kapur to Outlook.
Outlook earlier reported that a child living on the streets and consuming porn, often in the company of older peers, could very easily come to believe the content on the screen is how it is in real life and, in that case, the notions of consent or safe sex could be hard to grasp, or the understanding of consequences of making unsolicited sexual advances on a person.
(With PTI inputs)
