Budhia torture case;Coach sent to jail custody

Bhubaneswar, Aug 13 (UNI) The Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate today sent ''marathon kid'' Budhia Singh's coach cum mentor Biranchi Das to jail custody for allegedly torturing and assaulting the child prodigy.

Mr Das was arrested early in the morning after Budhia's mother, Sukanti Singh, filed an FIR with the Bargarh police station alleging that her son was subjected to mental torture and physical assault by Biranchi Das.

Police said Mr Das was arrested under section 321, 341, 323, 294 and 506 of the IPC and section 23 of the Juvenile Justice(care and Protection) Children Act and was forwarded to the court after Budhia was medically examined at the Capital Hospital.

Mr Das told reporters that all allegations levelled against him by Budhia's mother were baseless and motivated and denied that he had ever assaulted the child, whom he had adopted as his son and brought to the limelight.

Budhia shot into fame on May 2 last year when he ran 65 km non-stop from Puri to Bhubaneswar and etched his name in the Limca Book of Record as the world's youngest marathon child.

Mr Das said Budhia's mother had levelled baseless allegations against him after he expelled Budhia's sister from the Judo Association hall where she was staying with other inmates for her objectionable and indisciplined behaviour.

Hospital sources said the doctors who examined Budhia had reported that the injuries were three to six months old and ruled out any burn injuries on his body.

UNI