NEW DELHI: Three boys—aged nine, 12 and 14 years —took a seven-year-old girl to a park on the pretext of plucking mangoes and took turns to rape and sodomize her. The incident, which took place in west Delhi’s Paschim Vihar, came to fore on Sunday night. The boys have been detained and produced before the juvenile justice board.

In her statement, the girl told police the boys, her neighbours, had asked her to accompany them to the park on Thursday evening. After reaching the park, the boys first plucked a few mangoes and handed them to her. They then began manhandling her. At first, she thought it was in play. But they dragged her to a secluded place behind a slum and raped her. They even sodomized her, she said.

Before fleeing, the boys threatened her against confiding in anybody. After reaching home, the girl initially did not tell her parents anything. But noticing her disturbed behaviour, the parents questioned her and she told them about the rape. A medical examination confirmed the assault. The child was admitted to a hospital.