BENGALURU: A man was arrested by the Kengeri police on Saturday for thrashing his nine-year-old with a wire and belt and slamming the child on the bed.
The incident took place five months ago but came to light only recently after a video of the thrashing, taken by the boy’s mother, got leaked and went viral.
According to the police, Mahendra Kumar (37), employed as a plumber with Mindtree, an IT consulting firm, was arrested from his home for beating up his son as punishment for bunking his tuition classes. The video of the incident was taken by the boy’s mother.
Members of BOSCO, an NGO for children, visited the station after Kumar was arrested. Kavita, from the NGO, said the boy’s condition was fine now. She said the child had not been doing his homework given at school and was in the habit of bunking tuition classes and roaming with his friends instead. “One day, his mother called the tuition centre and found that he had again bunked the class, after which Kumar beat him up. His mother allegedly took the video so that it could be used to discipline the boy in future,” Kavita said.
The incident was discovered by accident. When Kumar gave his phone for repairs after the incident, someone at the repair centre found and leaked the video, after which it went viral. Kengeri police first tracked his workplace — the Mindtree office at Global village tech park, and from there got the address of his residence.
Kavita said Mahendra Kumar would be produced in court on Saturday evening, after which the case would be transferred to the Child Protection Officer. The child would continue to live with his mother