In Palghar district, Maharashtra, the police have filed a case against an individual on Thursday. The charges are related to the severe beating of a 13-year-old boy, who was illegally employed as domestic help by the accused. This brutal treatment reportedly occurred because the boy arrived late for work, according to an official statement.
The incident occurred on Monday at Khamloli village in the district, he said. The accused, Rajendra Sitaram Patil, was booked under the Child Labour (Prohibition And Regulation) Act, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the police said.
He was also charged with criminal intimidation under sections 506 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as well as intentionally insulting someone with the purpose to cause a disturbance under section 323 of the IPC, according to the report. The victim boy and the accused live in the same village. Patil had employed the minor to look after his cattle at his house. The teenage boy had lost his mother several years back, while his father is a tuberculosis patient, an official of Manor police station said.
The boy lived at the house of the accused, and was paid a salary of Rs 1,100 per month, he said. On September 25, the boy went out in the morning to have darshan of Ganesh idols in the village. While returning to the employer’s house, he saw some boys playing somewhere and joined them. Due to this, he reached the workplace late, he added.
Patil physically beat the youngster and verbally insulted him because he was upset with him for being late to work. According to the police official, the youngster went to his father and told him about the incident. When Patil's kid was being beaten, the victim's father and a few other locals rushed to his home to confront him about it. However, the accused also mistreated them. The boy's father reportedly made a complaint to the police after the group went to the police.