Days after being held captive, beaten for stealing, boy dies in K’taka’s Haveri

In his complaint, the 10-year-old boy’s father said they found he was in the shopkeepers’ captivity and was allegedly being beaten on the suspicion of the theft when they went looking for him after he did not return home for two hours

A 10-year-old boy died on Tuesday days after he was allegedly locked up in a room, tied to a stone, and beaten for allegedly stealing snacks from a store at Uppanashi in Karnataka’s Haveri district on March 16, said two police officers requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Representational Image. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In his complaint, the boy’s father said they found the boy was in the shopkeepers’ captivity and was allegedly being beaten on the suspicion of the theft when they went looking for him after he did not return home for two hours.

Police said the shop owners held the boy captive for over two hours and let him go only after his mother’s pleadings. By the night of March 16, the boy’s condition worsened, and he was rushed to a hospital in Haveri. The doctors then referred him to Hubballi where he died.

The owners of the store were absconding.

Police said they were awaiting for the post-mortem report to know the exact cause of death and to press charges.The shop owners are yet to be booked for murder as a probe was being conducted.