Two boys – aged 10 and 12 – allegedly raped a nine-year-old girl in Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh. The incident took place under the Sikandra Rau Police Station area at around 2 pm, police told PTI news agency on Saturday.

The minor victim, who is a Class 4 student, had reportedly gone to a forest near her village on Friday to collect fodder. The two boys then lured her into a wheat field on the pretext of berries , according to the police.

“Once inside the field, the 10-year-old boy allegedly held the girl down while the 12-year-old raped her,” PTI reported citing the police report on the matter, which was based on the mother’s testimony.

“The victim and both the accused are minors. We have initiated a probe into the matter,” circle officer J N Asthana told PTI. Both the accused and the victim are residents of the same village, Times of India reported.

Upon her return home, the victim narrated the ordeal to her family, following which they lodged a formal complaint with the cops at the Sikandra Rau police station.

“A case has been registered against the two named juveniles under BNS section 70-1 and 5/6 of the POCSO Act. The girl has undergone a medical examination,” the station house officer said, according to TOI. The SHO further said that both accused had been detained late Saturday and produced before a magistrate, who had sent them to a juvenile home in Hathras.

In another such incident in Himachal’s Bilaspur district, a five-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 15-year-old boy. The incident took place on Friday.

It was alleged that the minor boy took the small girl to the fields and raped her, the police said. As the news spread, a crowd gathered and vandalised the house of the accused.

Police arrested the accused on Saturday and booked him under relevant sections of POCSO Act.