The boys, who were stripped, shaved bald and then made to parade naked with a garland of chappals for stealing Re 1 chakli, will be moved to a children's home and then a boarding school to help them recover from the trauma

After being stripped, shaved bald and then made to parade naked with a garland of chappals, the two boys, aged eight and nine years old, are still paying an extreme price for their petty crime — stealing a one-rupee chakli. The barbaric punishment meted out to them by the shopkeeper has left them so humiliated and shaken, that they can no longer bear to live at home in Ulhasnagar, where the entire neighbourhood witnessed their shame.

Feverish since the incident

"My son was shivering and had fever for two days. He is still silent and rarely speaks," said the mother of the 9-year-old.

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mid-day had reported on the shocking incident that took place in Prem Nagar Tekdi on Saturday, when the shopkeeper and his sons decided to teach a cruel lesson to the boys for stealing a chakli. Members of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), from both national and the Thane wing, met the kids for a counselling session. The session went on from 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm, and the CWC authorities decided to move the kids out of the neighbourhood.

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In the 15 days before schools reopen, they will stay at a children's home. Their mothers have also decided to change their school and send them to a hostel instead. It seems unfair that the children should have to leave their homes after already suffering so much, but their mothers said that they agreed to this solution to help the kids move on.

Both kids have been raised by single mothers who work as domestic help. "The CWC has decided to keep them in a children's home in Ulhasnagar. As mothers, we accepted this move because we are mostly at work. Relatives and neighbours keep visiting, so keeping the kids in here will only remind them of their trauma. It's better that they stay away," added the mother.

Mums will run a check first

The kids will be taken away at 10 am today. "I will visit the children's home first to see that it is safe there. For 15 days, they will go through counselling, after which they will study at a hostel," added the boy's mother, before bursting into tears, demanding that the accused be imprisoned.

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Meenal Thakore, CWC chairperson in Thane, said, "The kids are just in Std III and IV, and the cruelty and humiliation they faced shows that humanity is dying. The accused should have taken money from the parents rather than doing this. We also counselled the parents. As they are single parents, they can get assistance with classes and schemes by the government."