In a chilling incident, a 17-year old boy was stripped naked, forced to go on a road and assaulted with belts by two persons for not repaying a Rs 300 loan and accusing him of allegedly ‘flicking’ a Bluetooth headphone, police said here on Wednesday.
The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon in full public view near the Jama Masjid in Kalwa suburb of Thane, which happens to be the home-town of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Two persons identified as Tausif Khanbande and Samil Khanbande, barged into the home of the minor boy at Annapurna Building nearby.
The duo confronted the minor boy charging him with the alleged ‘theft’ of the Bluetooth device and also demanded that he should return a purported loan of Rs 300 taken from them.
The boy denied the charges and also refused to give the purported loan from them but they were adamant and forced him to ‘accompany’ them towards the nearby mosque.
There, the Khanbande duo slapped the boy, kicked him on the legs, Tausif pulled out the belt from the boy’s trousers and started whipping the boy on the back as he screamed for help, while Samil shot a video of the incident from behind.
The duo then caught and stripped the boy fully naked in the public place and as they continued to assault him, the minor somehow managed to flee the spot through a narrow bylane, without a shred on his body.
Later, the boy approached the Kalwa Police Station to lodge a complaint, but the police only filed an ordinary NC (Non-Cognisable) offence in the matter.
Late on Tuesday night, the video of the incident went viral on social media and caught the attention of a social activist Dr. Binu Varghese.
Taking strong umbrage, he forwarded the video to the top brass of Thane Police and finally Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-I) Ganesh N. Gawade directed that a FIR should be lodged in the matter immediately.
Early today, the Kalwa Police swung into action and filed a FIR based on the teenaged boy’s complaint, invoking stringent sections of the POCSO and Indian Penal Code, said Varghese, and further investigations are on.
On the delay of more than 20 hours in lodging the FIR, it was stated that the minor victim, belonging to a minority community, was first taken for a medical check-up and treatment before being brought to the police station which resulted in the late filing of the plea.
A police official said that the prime accused Tausif was arrested this afternoon, while police teams are on the lookout for the absconder Samil, who has reportedly gone into hiding since last night.
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