Grove owner arrested for stripping, assaulting 10-year-old boy

Tirunelveli: A 10-year-old boy was allegedly stripped and beaten by the owner of a mango grove after the boy trespassed into the grove to collect mangoes near Krishnaperi village in Tirunelveli district. Police arrested the owner, identified as Murugan, on Wednesday.According to police sources, the boy is a Class 5 student of Lalugapuram elementary school. On Tuesday, he felt unwell and did not attend school. Later, around 4pm, he and his friend went to a grove located behind his house to pluck mangoes.
On noticing the boys picking fruits from the trees, Murugan allegedly berated them and assaulted the victim using iron pipes, causing bruising injuries to his shoulder, hip, and thigh. The boy later returned home.When his father, Ranjith Kumar, reached home and came to know about the incident, he rushed the child to the Tirunelveli Government Medical College Hospital for treatment. Subsequently, a quarrel broke out between the boy's family and Murugan.A senior police official said that the boy and the landowner belonged to the same community and that there was no previous enmity between the two families. Further investigation is under way.Ramkumar M, a relative of the boy, told TOI that Murugan was not related to the family and they were unaware of the reason behind the severe assault. "He was stripped naked and beaten. Police should take severe action against the miscreant," he said.Based on a complaint lodged by Ranjith Kumar, Pettai police registered a case under Sections 296(b) (obscene acts, songs or words performed in public to the annoyance of others), 118(1) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), and 351(3) (criminal intimidation by threatening to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).A complaint was also filed with Childline, which has initiated an inquiry into the incident.