A 41-year-old shopkeeper was arrested on Thursday for tying up two seven-year-old boys to an iron grille and thrashing them for allegedly stealing cold drinks from his shop in Sector 40, police said. The accused, Suresh Kumar, is a native of Shahjahanpur who currently lives in Aghapur and runs a tea stall there. The incident took place on Sunday.
A video of the incident surfaced on social media and sparked outrage. The footage showed the two children with their hands tied to an iron grille along the boundary wall.
The mother of one of the boys filed a complaint at the Sector 39 police station. In her statement, she said her son and his cousin had gone out together for a stroll in the evening. She said she came to know from the locals that the boys were being held and assaulted at the shop. She claimed that the shopkeeper also alleged the children had stolen cold drinks from his shop and verbally abused them. It was only when she intervened and protested against the shopkeeper’s actions that he agreed to let them go. The complainant has demanded strict action against the accused.
An officer said that during investigation, they found the children had taken cold drink bottles from the shop and left without paying for them. When Kumar found out, he chased the boys, caught them and brought them back to the shop where he tied them to the grille. However, the officer said despite the alleged theft, Kumar has no legal authority to confine or assault the children.
Based on the complaint by the boy’s mother, police have registered a case against Kumar under sections 127(2) (wrongful confinement), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt) and 352 (intentional insult) of the BNS.
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