Ludhiana shopkeeper ties up 6-year-old ‘thief’, thrashes him with iron pipe

The six-year-old was thrashed on suspicion of stealing a dress; the accused shopkeeper assaulted the child with an iron rod

Suspecting a six-year-old boy of stealing a dress, a shopkeeper allegedly tied up the boy and thrashed him with an iron rod on March 31. A case was registered against the accused on Monday.

Alleging that the police did not register an FIR against the Ludhiana-based shopkeeper for four days, the complainant said her son’ shoulder had been fractured. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The victim’s mother, Anjali of Bajda Colony, said the accused, Billa, also allegedly threw water on the boy, and made him lie on the wet floor till she came to his rescue.

“My son had gone to play in the street. In the afternoon, the accused told me that my son had stolen a dress from his shop. I rushed there to find him lying on the floor with his limbs tied with a rope. When I objected, the accused abused me. I took my son home and found injury marks on his body,” she said.

“My son told me that he saw the dress lying on the floor, and took it to Billa, who started accusing him of theft and thrashed him,”she said.

Alleging that the police did not register an FIR for four days, the complainant said, “My son’s shoulder has been fractured in the brutal assault, and doctors have prescribed him a medical belt.”

The complainant works in a factory. Her husband, Mohammad Samim, is in their ancestral village in Bihar.

Assistant sub-inspector Sukhwinder Singh, who is investigating the case, said a case had been registered under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 342 ( wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code has been lodged against the accused. “We are waiting for the medical reports of the boy, and will add more sections to the FIR accordingly,” he said. The accused is yet to be arrested.