Bangalore; Boy tells a horror tale of beltings by mother’s lover just for being stubborn and for missing school; both the parents are being counselled by police
Just the belt marks on his back tell the whole story. In any Western country, the caregivers would have been in jail for child abuse. Here, they are just being counselled.
The Makkala Sahayavani (child helpline) personnel were stunned on Thursday after the Hebbagodi police handed over to them 10-year-old Abhishek (name changed to protect identity), who had severe burn marks on his palms and belt marks and welling sores all over his body.
The story the boy told them was heart-rending. For being stubborn and not attending school properly, his mother Sarita (name changed) and the man she lives with, Nagaraj, handed out a terrible punishment. Just before the Diwali festival, Abhishek said, Sarita put campor (karpura) on his palms and set fire to it, making sure that he didn’t drop it.
“It was burning and very painful,” Abhishek told Bangalore Mirror. “I couldn’t tolerate it. After that, Nagaraj started hitting me with the belt. Blood was pouring from my body. I screamed and asked him not to hit me. Nobody cared. My mother didn’t even come out of the house to rescue me from him.”
Abhishek, along with his elder sister, has been living with his mother and Nagaraj since the time he was born. He is studying in class 5. Police said his parents Manjunath (name changed) and Sarita separated after she had an affair with Nagaraj, their neighbour. Their elder daughter lives with Manjunath, the police added.
On that day, even the sister didn’t come to his aid. “My hands and my whole body were filled with welts. I was not even in a position to walk properly. No one took me to a doctor or gave me medicine. I had Rs 230 in my box, which I had collected and kept from a long time. I managed to reach the bus stop in Hebbagodi and took a bus to my uncle’s place in Peenya, ” Abhishek said.
When Manjunath got to know what happened to his son, he took him and filed a complaint with the Hebbagodi police, who called in the Makkala Sahayavani personnel. They summoned both parents for questioning and counseling.
Sarita reportedly told the Makkala Sahayavani personnel that Abhishek would steal money from the house, and that is why she punished him. She did not deny that she made him hold burning camphor in his palms.
“The only thing I told that lady is: It is a bad thing that he steals and you should teach him not to do it. But how can you attack a small boy like this?,” Rani Shetty, chief co-ordinator of the helpline told Bangalore Mirror. “There are many ways to teach a small boy, this is not the way. I had never seen anything like this, it was horrible,” she added.
Now, the boy wants to stay with his father and not with his mother as he is scared that she and his so-called ‘step father’ may attack him again. He also is joining school in Peenya, with his father, the police said. “We are counselling both arties. He cannot bear such pain at this young age. We are taking this case very seriously and we will monitor the boy till he is well,” Shetty added.
