Kashmir slips into shock after 13-year-old sodomises and kills 8-year-old friend

Shock and awe descended on Kashmir after a 13-year-old boy allegedly sodomised and strangulated his eight-year-old friend to death in Kokernag, Anantnag district.

The 13-year-old, from remote Sofi Shali village in Kokernag, was arrested and booked under Sections 302 and 377 of the Indian Penal Code.

The victim, a primary student, was missing since May 15. His body was fished out from a local canal two days later. Police sources said the arrested boy, a school drop-out, had lured the victim and two other friends to nearby orchards on the pretext of fetching some fruits. The police said he took the victim along with him while his two friends went in different directions.

The police said he sodomised the victim and then strangulated him with a string after the latter threatened to inform his parents about the incident.

Senior superintendent of police, Anantnag, Ramesh Kumar Jalla said the perpetrator is a school drop-out who according to school records was born in 1998.

“But by his physique and looks he seems to be around 17 years old,” Jalla said. “We are conducting medical tests on him to determine his actual age. He has a full-grown beard and does not in any way look 13.”

The two boys were also neighbours and their houses were just 100m from each other.

The incident has shocked Kashmir.

“We need to keep track of our wards because things are going from bad to worse,” said Suhail Ahmad, a local resident. “Crimes unheard of before are happening in Kashmir.”

 

A few days ago, a sixth grader had committed suicide in Bandipora in north Kashmir.