Delhi Police have booked a four-year-old boy for allegedly raping his classmate inside the classroom and washroom of a private school in the national Capital, the Hindustan Times reported on Thursday.

The girl, who is of the same age, complained to her mother on November 17 of pain in her lower abdomen. Later that evening, she began to cry and said that the boy had used his finger and a sharpened pencil to assault her. The mother took her child to a hospital when her pain did not subside.

“She tried pushing him, but could not get away as other children had left and there was no staff around,” the child’s mother said in the First Information Report about the incident. The mother added that she had sent a text message to the school teacher, and complained again to the school on November 18, but was instead told to file a written complaint.

The school’s lawyer, however, said that a helper was always present in the washrooms.

The police have registered a case of rape, but are unsure of how to proceed with the prosecution. “The Indian Penal Code provides children below seven years of age certain protections against prosecutions,” Dependra Pathak, Delhi Police’s chief spokesperson told the Hindustan Times. “We are examining those provisions even as we are handling the matter with utmost sensitivity.” He said the boy was being counselled by a non-governmental organisation.

The girl’s mother has demanded that the boy be expelled from the school. She has also asked the school authorities to sack the principal and the teacher concerned, issue a public apology on Facebook and refund the school fee with interest.