A 14-year-old boy is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Delhi after he was allegedly beaten up at the school premises by his classmates, who in a bid to assault him also brutalised him with a wooden stick, police officials said on Saturday.

The main accused in the gruesome case, which has sparked protests and demonstrations, has been apprehended, the officials said.

The assault came to light on April 2, when the New Ashok Nagar police station received information from a private hospital about the admission of minor assault victim, deputy commissioner of police (east) Apoorva Gupta said.

Upon reaching the hospital, the officials were informed that the boy sustained injuries not only to his private parts but also his intestines, Gupta said.

“The victim told investigators that he was beaten up by one of his classmates who inserted a wooden stick in his posterior,” the officer said, adding that the accused threatened to harm his sister, who studies at the same school, if the boy informed anyone.

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A case was filed on April 2 under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint), 34 (criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 377 (unnatural offences), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Pocso Act, and the main accused, a 14-year-old boy, was apprehended the same day, Gupta said.

The first information report (FIR) filed on the basis of a complaint by boy’s family revealed the boy’s ordeal.

After an exam on March 13, the boy thumped the table in the classroom to which the class monitor objected, the FIR said quoting the boy.

“We had an argument over this and the monitor called his friend (accused) to continue the argument. During lunch time, the monitor’s friend called a few of his friends and they all beat me up. My friends saw this and informed the teacher who called us all and the matter was resolved,” it said. HT has seen a copy of the FIR.

On March 18, the day of the last exam for the class, the accused told the victim that their PT teacher was looking for him.

“I couldn’t find the teacher, so I started walking back from the senior wing to the middle wing but my classmate (who had beaten him on March 13) and his senior friends pulled me to a corner. They all beat me up after which my classmate asked his senior friends to go and said ‘I will deal with him myself’,” the boy told police.

According to the FIR, the accused then tried to rip his clothes, and then assaulted him with a wooden stick. “I shouted, but there was no one around so no one came. He left and threatened me not to tell anyone, otherwise he will not spare me and my sister who studies in class 10,” the boy told the police.

Two days later, the boy developed a stomach ache. His mother rushed him to a doctor who prescribed him pain medication, the FIR quoted the boy as saying.

By March 28, the boy’s condition worsened and he was taken to a private hospital in Noida. The next day, the boy was operated upon during which his appendix was removed, and injuries to his intestines were revealed, the FIR said.

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Following the surgery, the doctors informed the boy’s mother of the assault, it said. On April 2, he finally narrated his ordeal to his mother.

“It was the doctors who told us that we had to inform the police,” the boy’s 29-year-old sister said. The boy lives with his mother and two sisters in Mayur Vihar. His father died after suffering a brain haemorrhage in 2020.

While the boy is being counselled, a probe into the case is underway, DCP Gupta said. “The minor was apprehended and immediately produced before the juvenile justice board,” she said.

But the victim’s family has demanded the accused be booked for attempt to murder and tried as an adult.

“If he had the brains to plan and pull off such a gruesome crime, why should he be considered a minor?” the boy’s sister asked. “This is an attempt to murder, not just assault. The classmate needs to be booked for attempt to murder,” the sister said, adding that he may need another surgery.

The boy’s family has also demanded that other students who beat him up, and the class monitor who allegedly provoked the incident should be apprehended at the earliest. “Those who beat my brother are all out there and they are a threat to other students. They should be held by police as well,” the 29-year-old said.

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The family, along with their neighbours and parents of other students, staged a demonstration at the school on Saturday.

“The principal was not available. We asked the teachers who were present about his address or phone number but they didn’t share. The teachers have been denying that the incident did not happen inside the school but why would my brother lie just about the place of occurrence? No one from the school came to meet us,” the sister said.

The school could not be reached for comment.