A shopkeeper in Hyderabad city of India’s Telangana state has been arrested for stripping and torturing a 10-year-old boy by putting chilli powder on his private parts, as a punishment for allegedly stealing a soft drink from his shop, media reports said on Tuesday.
The child's mother reported the incident to the police on Monday evening, complaining that a local shopkeeper took away her son, stripped him and beat him, according to reports.
A police officer told the media that the boy used often to visit the shop and his father was quite familiar with the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper reportedly had complained that cold drink bottles were being stolen from his shop for several days. On Monday evening, he allegedly caught the boy red-handed.
"The shopkeeper said he removed the boy's clothes and threatened to sprinkle chili powder on his private parts while holding an iron rod,” police said.
However, the mother and uncle of the child denied the shopkeeper's allegations.
The child’s uncle sought to know whether the boy was found stealing, why the shopkeeper didn't inform them and why he couldn’t show them CCTV footage of the alleged theft. "How can he take him away to his house and beat him up like this?”
The boy's mother said that her child was falsely blamed and more likely just "touched or moved" a bottle.
The shopkeeper, meanwhile, has been charged for “voluntarily causing hurt”, wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation.