7-Year-Old Allegedly Beaten, Branded With Spatula By Stepmother; Child Speaks Out In Viral Video

A 7-year-old girl in India was allegedly beaten and branded with a spatula by her stepmother.

A video clip shared on social media reportedly showed the child talking about the torture she suffered at the hands of her stepmother. In the video, the child, who lives in Khambhaliya town in the state of Gujarat, showed the injury marks she sustained from the thrashing she got from her stepmother, Times Now reported Sunday.

The girl also said she was branded with a spatula by her stepmother. On one occasion, the stepmother allegedly tried to strangle her because she had consumed sweets without her permission, the girl claimed.

“We are pursuing the family members to register an FIR. Some members of the family don’t want the FIR to be filed. The members of the child welfare committee are also looking into the matter,” Devbhumi Dwarka senior police officer Sunil Joshi, said, according to the Times of India.

Authorities have not revealed the identity of the stepmother. It also remains unclear if any other family member stayed with the victim or if others were aware of the torture. The condition of the victim as of Monday morning was not made public.

Local media VTV Gujarati shared a video which had the screenshots of the footage in which the girl showed her injury marks.

Last month, a woman and her boyfriend allegedly tortured her 12-year-old son by branding him with a hot iron pipe. The couple attacked the young boy after he questioned their affair. Authorities later arrested and charged the couple, who lived in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

In July, a 5-month-old baby died Friday after her mother allegedly branded the child with a hot iron to cure her illness. The incident took place in the state of Rajasthan. According to local media, the child had been unwell for a month and was unable to eat anything or drink milk properly. The victim's parents believed the child was having some stomach issues. They later contacted a local occultist for the child's treatment, but he was not in town. Later, the mother branded the baby with the hot iron, thinking it would cure the child.