Dalit boy tied up, beaten for plucking pomegranate in Telangana

Hyderabad: A 14-year-old Dalit boy was allegedly tied up and beaten by a man on the city outskirts for plucking a pomegranate from his house, police said on Wednesday.

The incident took place on June 22 at Kesaram village of Shabad mandal. The victim belonging to the SC community, scaled the compound wall of a house to pluck pomegranate from a tree, they said.

The house owner, a retired government school headmaster, caught the boy and tied his hands and legs with a rope and allegedly beat him up, they added.

A picture purportedly showing the boy lying on the ground has gone viral.

Based on the complaint lodged by the victim's mother on June 24, a case under IPC sections 342 (wrongful confinement) and 324 (voluntary causing hurt) and relevant sections of Juvenile Justice Act, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, was registered against the man and his son.

When the complainant went to the spot, the man and his son allegedly abused her, it added.

Further investigation was on.