Minors tortured near Mumbai: Maneka Gandhi steps in, initiates action

MUMBAI CITY NEWS On Saturday, two boys aged nine and eight allegedly beaten, stripped, garlanded with a string of shoes and paraded for stealing two chaklis from an Ulhasnagar shop as they were unable to control hunger

Two days after two boys were stripped, tortured and paraded in Ulhasnagar for allegedly stealing two chaklis, Maneka Gandhi, minister for women and child development, tweeted saying that appropriate action has been initiated in the matter.

Cops said that instead of rescuing or helping the kids, the onlookers were busy recording the event on their mobile phones. (Representation pic)

“We have taken the cognizance of the matter. We have contacted Shri A. N Tripathi, member secretary, Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights. Counsellors will reach the children by today (Monday) evening,” read her tweet.

On Saturday, two boys aged nine and eight allegedly beaten, stripped, garlanded with a string of shoes and paraded for stealing two chaklis from an Ulhasnagar shop as they were unable to control hunger.

Shopkeeper Mehmoood Pathan, 69, and his two sons — Irfan, 25, and Tavakkal, 20, were arrested and remanded in police custody till May 23 for torturing the minors. Their mother, a widow, works as a domestic help in the area.

All three were arrested and booked under the The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the he Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act and sections 355, 500, 323 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

Cops said that instead of rescuing or helping the boys, the onlookers were busy recording the event on their mobile phones. In a video that went viral, children were allegedly threatened and subjected racism. It was their mother who filed a complaint after the boys narrated their ordeal to her.