13-Year-Old Child Tortured, Locked Up In Bathroom For Days Without Food By 'Adoptive' Parents

A couple in India was arrested for allegedly torturing their 13-year-old "adoptive" son by thrashing him mercilessly and locking him up in the bathroom for several days without food.

The boy's ordeal came to light after he shared the details of the torture with his birth parents during a recent visit. The police were then informed about the incident, and the couple was arrested earlier this week, Times Now reported Thursday. The incident took place in the eastern state of Assam.

The police said the couple allegedly used sticks to beat up the boy and starve him for several days. The child, who had been staying with the couple for a few months, was horrified ever since he moved in. However, it wasn't clear if they had legally adopted the boy.

The accused have been identified as Indrajit Handique and Anuradha Baruah. Handique is a university employee, while his wife is a teacher at a school, local media reported.

A case was registered against the couple and the police have launched an investigation.

“We have registered a case at Dibrugarh police station and started investigation. Both accused have been arrested. We are investigating whether they legally adopted a boy or not. They will be dealt with as per law,” Northeast Now quoted a police officer as saying.

Earlier this month, the police in the state of Odisha said a 7-year-old girl was subjected to inhuman physical and mental torture for more than a year by her father and stepmother. The girl had been living with her father since her parents' divorce in the year 2020.

“Following the divorce of her parents, the child was taken by her father forcibly. He subjected the child to brutal torture by not feeding her for months. She is badly malnutritioned and her weight has gone to five kilograms (11 pounds),” social worker Md Jamil Akhtar told Ommcom News at the time.

The incident came to light after the girl's biological mother found out about the torture, and rescued her. The girl had been reduced to bones due to starvation. The girl’s mother had demanded severe punishment for the culprits.