BHOPAL: A first information report (FIR) has been registered against an unidentified person for repeatedly slapping three children including a six-year-old in Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam district, and asking them to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
The youngest of the three children was just 6 and an orphan who lived with his grandparents, said Imran Khan, a local social worker. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
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Police said the incident is reported to have taken place last month but came to light after a video clip of the assault recently turned up on social media. The video was recorded by an associate of the person hitting the boys.
On Thursday, relatives of the three boys and other community members reached Manak Chowk police station with the children to demand that the police file an FIR and take action against the accused.
Ratlam additional superintendent of police (Addl SP) Rakesh Khaka said, “A video related to the beating of children has gone viral. The video is said to be about a month old. In this regard, the cyber team has been asked to investigate the matter and search for the accused.”
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Police later said two teenagers, also minors, have been detained in this connection.
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Police later said two teenagers, also minors, have been detained in this connection.
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Police said the unidentified accused had been booked for offences relating to committing an obscene act, causing hurt, wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation and promotion of enmity, hatred and disharmony between groups based on religion.
HT cannot verify the authenticity of the video clip.
Police said the three victims are aged 13, 11 and 6, and the incident seems to have been triggered by the accused admonishing them about smoking. In the video, the man slaps the boys, asking if they will smoke. One of the boys then cries out in pain, saying ‘Allah’.
“What did you say, Allah?” the person says, as he slaps him again, and again. The beating continues and stops sometime after the boys switch to chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
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“It was a very disturbing video and children were mercilessly thrashed,” said Imran Khan, a local social worker, adding that the youngest child was an orphan, who lived with his grandparents.
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.
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Home/India News/3 children thrashed in MP’s Ratlam, forced to chant Jai Shri Ram: Police
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