A child and a bear
The mother said that the two boys raped the little girl after asking her to come out to play with them - Representational Image iStock

In a shocking incident, a four-year-old girl was gang-raped by a 13-year-old boy and his 12-year-old friend in the north Indian city of Ludhiana.

The incident is said to have taken place on Thursday evening (18 January) when the girl was alone at her home as her mother had gone out to buy grocery, the Hindustan Times (HT) reported.

The mother in her complaint told the police that she had left her daughter alone at their rented accommodation in the Salem Tabri area but when she returned home, she was shocked to find her daughter bleeding and crying.

According to the girl's mother, the 13-year-old boy is the son of another tenant in the same house. The other boy reportedly had come to visit him.

The mother said that the two boys raped the little girl after asking her to come out to play with them.

The 13-year-old is a Class 7 student while the 12-year-old is a student of Class 5, the HT report said.

Medical examination has confirmed the rape. According to inspector Vijay Kumar, authorities have arrested boys and produced them before a juvenile court.

The police have registered a case of rape and also a case under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act.

Both of them have been sent to the local juvenile home after the court remanded them in judicial custody on Friday (19 January).