Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has ordered
an enquiry into alleged torture of a 10-year-old boy, who
was recently stripped and beaten mercilessly by some persons.
Taking up a letter petition, a division bench of the
HC asked the city DCP to conduct an enquiry and report to
the court within three days.
The incident, which had occurred near Kanika Square here
under Lalbag area, came to light two months later, when a
vernacular daily carried the news.
A student of the locality had recorded the incident on
her video camera on October 6 this year and later made the
recording public.
The clippings show the 10-year-old boy being stripped
and tied to a wooden pole. A youth was seen beating the boy
mercilessly with cables and applying ragweed (an itchy plant
causing rashes) on the boy's face, who kept crying
inconsolably.
In the video, a group of at least 15 to 20 persons are
seen standing nearby, none of whom came to the rescue of the
minor.
After the newspaper report, an advocate of the High
Court filed the petition, upon which the bench of Justice B P
Das and Justice Sanju Panda asked the police to enquire into
it.
Meanwhile, the police claim to have traced the boy,
identified as Md Zuba.
The boy's parents have, however, refused to lodge an
FIR with the police claiming that the boy was not tortured as
the reports say.
"In fact, our relatives were reprimanding the boy who
has turned wayward," the boy's mother has reportedly told the
local police.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 08, 2010, 23:06