The Hyderabad Police have booked four minors between the ages of 16 and 17 for sexually assaulting and blackmailing a 13-year-old boy. Officers said the four – who are absconding – began harassing the boy two months ago and that the incident surfaced after his father lodged a complaint at the city’s Chaderghat police station, Hindustan Times.

Inspector G Sattaiah said the accused knew the boy as they lived in the same locality. After assaulting him, the four began to extort money from the 13-year-old and threatened to upload videos and pictures of the incident to social media if he did not pay them. “They used to demand Rs 500 or Rs 1,000 from him,” Sattaiah said, adding that they sent a video clip to the principal of the boy’s school after he did not pay them.

“Without verifying the facts, the school principal suspended him,” Sattaiah added. The boy then attempted to commit suicide by consuming acid, but was stopped by his father, who filed a complaint with police, The New Indian Express reported. “They took my son outside on the pretext of playing and showed him porn,” the father said. He has also requested his school to revoke the suspension.

Sattaiah said the accused had been charged under various of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. As per the Juvenile Justice Act, offenders over 16 years of age can be tried as adults in the case of crimes such as murder and rape.