Breaking News -Five-year-old-girl is sexually assaulted by her neighbour

A FIVE-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a seven-year-old boy when she went to a neighbour’s house in India to collect her ball, police claim.

The young girl said she was assaulted when she went to fetch a ball which had flown astray while she played on her terrace. The girl’s mother reported the attack to police and said her daughter was ‘grabbed by the son of the neighbour, the boy is set to be brought before a juvenile court to answer the claims.

Police have filed an initial report under child protection laws after the girl gave evidence to a child welfare officer. The boy has also been subject to a medical examination.

The alleged assault took place on October 12 in Aligarh, in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh. 

According to Indian law, seven is the minimum age at which a child can be formally accused of a crime.

India has a shocking reputation for sexual crimes against women and girls, with more than 145,000 rape cases pending before the courts at the end of 2019.

While 85 per cent of reported rapes in 2018 led to charges, only 27 per cent led to a conviction, according to government figures.