RAIPUR: A 7-year-old boy was tied to a tree and brutally beaten up for allegedly stealing biscuits and some currency notes from a shop at Kotba in Jashpur district, about 350 km north-east of Raipur.
The shop owner Rameshwar Dadsena claimed that the boy, who came to buy biscuits, had stolen Rs 200 from his shop.
According to the eyewitnesses, the shopkeeper, enraged over the boy’s denial of having stolen money, first thrashed him and later tied him to a tree blaming him for theft. The video showing the child tied to a tree had gone viral in the region.
It was only after the parents of the hapless boy reached the spot and assured the shop-owner of returning Rs 200, he was set free.
His parents said their son was tied to a tree to allegedly coerce him to admit the theft. They lodged a complaint at the local Tumla police station.
“The incident occurred at remote Tumla. The shopkeeper argued that he caught the child who fled after thieving some item and the money. His parents claimed that their innocent child was beaten and tied to a tree. We have registered the case and inquiring into the incident”, Balaji Rao Somawar, Jashpur district superintendent of police, said.
An FIR has been lodged under the Sections 342 (wrongful confinement) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC against the accused.