10-Year-Old Boy Allegedly Held Captive, Tortured To Death For Stealing Snacks From Shop

In a horrifying incident, a 10-year-old boy was allegedly tortured to death by a shop owner and his associates for reportedly stealing snacks from the store, police said Wednesday.

The alleged abuse happened in the southern Indian state of Karnataka on March 16. Harishayya Hiremath, 10, died in a hospital Monday, six days after he was allegedly locked up and tortured by the shop owner for stealing snacks.

Harishayya went to the grocery shop on March 16 and reportedly did not return home for nearly two hours. Nagayya Hiremath, the boy’s father, said that he, along with his wife, went in search of him and found that the Harishayya was held captive by the shop owner, reported news outlet, Deccan Herald.

Nagayya accuses that the shop owner Praveen Karishettar and his associates had also beaten up his son on suspicion of theft. After repeated pleas from the boy’s mother, the child was released from captivity. The boy’s condition worsened by the night of March 16 and he was rushed to a hospital, reported news outlet Hindustan Times.

Harishayya talked about his ordeal in a video that was recorded while he was in the hospital. He said that he was pushed, beaten up with a club and hurled from one end of the room to another. He was allegedly forced to carry heavy stone weights on his back. “They were attempting to kill me,” the boy was heard crying, reported news outlet Times of India.

The police are awaiting the autopsy report to ascertain the exact cause of the child’s death. The shop owner and his associates have absconded since the incident. The police have started an investigation but no arrests have been made.

In a similar incident in June 2018, a man was arrested in Brazil for beating his 3-year-old stepdaughter to death. Christopher Coelho, the toddler’s stepfather, allegedly assaulted the girl, identified as Ana da Silva, for wetting the bed. The girl had breathing difficulties and was found unresponsive at her home. She was pronounced dead at a hospital later.