A 12-year-old Indian boy was stripped, hung upside down and beaten to death in front of his family on Sunday in Bihar for allegedly stealing some cookies from a village shop, a Dubai newspaper reported.

Local shop owner Ajay Yadav was robbed Friday night at Thadi village in eastern Bihar’s Purnia district. He accused brothers Pintu Kumar, 13, and Chhotu Kumar, 12, of stealing a few packets of cookies, some chewing tobacco and petty cash, Gulf News reported.

The two boys were caught by villagers and pleaded guilty before a village court. They were ordered to be hung upside down and beaten.

Chhotu was killed, while Pintu sustained severe injuries. The boys were stripped naked and beaten in front of their parents, who pleaded unsuccessfully with the court to give them two days time to pay the fines, Gulf News reported.

Police have launched an investigation against eight villagers and are conducting a series of raids to arrest the suspects.

“The incident is quite serious as the villagers have taken law into their hands. We are not going to spare any of them,” Ajit Kumar Satyarthi, the local district superintendent of police, said on Monday.