Two boys tonsured, made to wear garlands of footwear and paraded naked for stealing chakli worth Re 1, Ulhasnagar police have arrested the man responsible and his two sons

Childhood punishments can leave their mark. But the emotional scars these two boys will probably have are likely to be on a whole different level - they were tonsured, made to wear garlands of footwear and paraded naked in their locality by a shopkeeper. Reason: they ate a chakli from his store and didn't have the money to pay for it - a mere 1 rupee!

The shop owner and his two sons, who punished the two boys, aged eight and nine, even recorded a video of the whole incident, while parading them naked in the area, and uploaded it on social media. The Hill Line police station in Ulhasnagar has registered a case and arrested the trio.

Not a good morning

According to the police, the incident took place outside a general store in Prem Nagar Tekdi, where the two boys live around 10 am on Saturday. The arrested accused have been identified as Mehmood Pathan (65) and his sons Irfan (20) and Salim (22).

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"The boys said they were playing outside the shop, when they went in and removed a chakli from a jar and ate it. Mehmood saw them and asked for payment - Rs 1. When the kids said they didn't have the money, he called his sons, and the three of them removed the children's clothes, shaved their heads, and put a garland of footwear around them. In this state, they made them march through the area, all the while shooting a video of the whole drama, which they circulated on their locality's WhatsApp group," said advocate Jay Gaikwad, who helped the victims to register a case, and is now following up on it.

"Their mothers work as domestic maids and return home only late in the night. On Saturday night, after they came home, both were shocked to see their kids in that state. After the boys narrated what had happened, they all went to the police station. En route, they also told a few residents, who informed me. We all rushed with them to the cops."

Gaikwad added that when the accused were questioned about their act, they said that this wasn't the first time the boys had done this, and hence, in anger, they punished them like this.

Counselling on cards

Mother of one of the boys said, "One shouldn't be this cruel with kids. He could've just slapped them to teach them a lesson… The police should take strict action against the culprits. Both the boys are so scared, they were crying the whole time. So, we directly approached the police, instead of going and talking to the shop owner."

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Gaikwad said the kids would go through a counselling session, which the police have promised. "Senior officers said the two are scared after the incident, ashamed after they were made to walk naked. Policewomen will counsel them for a week to try and ease the trauma and help them become calm."