Two minors were flogged in Maant area of Mathura district after they tried to get a second helping of fruits at a religious function, following which two persons were arrested, police said on Monday.
The crime came to light only after a video clip went viral on the social media on Sunday, after which the two accused men were arrested.
The incident occurred on Friday when the fruits were being distributed as ‘prasad’ at the function. In the video clip, the two children aged 12 and 10 are seen crying and begging for mercy while the men continue to beat them and accuse them of stealing fruits. During the beating, the children also tries to free themselves as their hands and feet were tied up with ropes.
The district child rights’ body has informed the UP State Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the district child welfare committee about the incident.
Childline District Coordinator in Mathura, Narendra Parihar, said: “One of the victims is from the same village while the other is a migrant labourer’s child, who is untraceable.”
According to the statement given by one of the minors, his only crime was that he had rejoined the queue to receive ‘prasad’ the second time, which infuriated some local youths.
Accused Pawan Kumar and Susheel Kumar were booked under Sections 342 (wrongful consignment), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC at Maant police station.
Mathura Senior superintendent of police Gaurav Grover said that investigation in the matter was on.
–IANS