For Stealing A Pack Of Chips, A Boy Paraded Naked In Shimla

In a shocking incident, a boy was stripped, beaten up and paraded naked for just stealing a pack of chips in Shimla.

The cops have arrested seven people in connection with the incident. According to a report in PTI, the 15-year-old was caught stealing by the shop owner in Rohru town.

Shimla Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi said that the minor belongs to a poor Nepalese family.

The tragic part of the story is the boy's mother died the next day due to a liver ailment for which she had been hospitalised.

According to the Superintendent of Police (SP), the video showing the boy being paraded by the men emerged online a few days later. Subsequently, seven individuals were booked under various sections, including 341 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 342 and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), section 14 of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act, based on a complaint lodged by the boy's father.

Responding to the shameful incident, the Leader of the Opposition in the state Jai Ram Thakur said such cruel acts would not be tolerated in Dev Bhoomi Himachal.

SP Gandhi further emphasized that the law-and-order situation in the state has witnessed a decline. He reported that four individuals were apprehended for charges of assault, wrongful confinement, and parading the minor naked. Additionally, three more individuals were taken into custody for their involvement in recording the incident on video and subsequently sharing it.

The authorities have seized eight mobile phones have been confiscated from the accused.

It comes at a time when the May 4 incident in Manipur, where two women were sexually assaulted and paraded naked by a mob, is still fresh in the minds of the people.