The body of an 11-year-old was found at a government run juvenile home in Hyderabad on Wednesday, uncovering the horrifying conditions in which over 200 boys are forced to live.
The police suspect the boy was sodomised and murdered by a fellow inmate and left in his bed.
An older boy who has been blamed was also abused in the past and said he was forced to confess to the crime.
“Another boy told police I had abused him. The police threatened to beat me. So I confessed,” he said.
The boy, who died, had been looking forward to go back to his home in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. No police personnel had been available to escort him home, so he had to wait.
The person in-charge of the home initially said the boy had fallen ill and passed away. Then they claimed he was found hanging and had committed suicide.
Inquiries by the police soon suggested that the boy, who had been staying there since August 2013, may have been a victim of abuse.
Over 180 boys live in two dormitories of the building that looks more like a jail. There is no segregation of boys who are between five and 18. They have no privacy; the bathrooms have no doors. There is also no round-the-clock supervision.
Experts say the conditions breed abuse and vulnerability.
“Boys from 5 to 15 are all living together. They must be segregated into different age groups to avoid vulnerability,” said Achyut Rao of the state Child Rights Commission.