Boy accused of molesting woman

2006-08-02 14:13

New Delhi - A court in eastern India is trying a six-year-old boy on charges of molesting and assaulting a woman in her 30s when he was only three, Indian media reported on Wednesday.

Raj Kumar is accused along with his parents of attacking the woman in Patna, capital of the eastern Indian state of Bihar in 2003, the Times of India said.

Raj Kumar and his parents, Kedar Prasad and Kanti Devi, were granted bail in 2003 and the case has dragged on ever since, the report said.

Different boy?

NDTV news channel said lawyer Chandrashekhar Prasad had filed charges against the family when they had tried to intervene in a domestic dispute in his household.

The lawyer claims his wife was attacked and molested by his neighbours but says their older son, aged 18 at the time, had been involved, not the little boy.

He accused the parents of trying to shield the older boy by producing the younger son in court.

Case taking its toll on education

Kanti Devi however said she had only one son, Raj Kumar, who told NDTV the drawn-out case was taking its toll on his education.

"I cannot go to school to study. But I have to go to court frequently and I don't know why," he said.

The next hearing of the case is set for August 11.

- AFP