The victim, who happens to be an orphan, was accused by his torturers of theft from the leather shop where he worked, for which they punished him by tying him to an electric pole and subjecting him to inhuman treatment. In the end they placed a garland of shoes around his neck, further humiliating him.
The 12-year-old victim, Nirab Hossain, son of late Kiran Hossain of Ward 2, however denied the allegation of theft by explaining that he had secretly taken the amount equal to his due wages as the owner wasn’t paying.
A disturbing video clip showing the boy being tortured went viral on Facebook, causing a huge public outcry.
Locals said since losing both his parents, Nirab was being brought up by his maternal grandmother. To make ends meet, he worked at the leather shop of one Rashed in the municipality area.
On Saturday afternoon, Rashed accused Nirab of stealing and along with two co-workers tied the minor boy to a nearby electric pole and beat him mercilessly.
Later, they placed the garland of shoes around his neck and made him walk through the locality before handing him over to Sadar Police Station.
Moments later though, they took him back from police and arranged an arbitration meeting with village elders on Sunday evening to settle the issue.
The arbitrators, including local councillor Shipon and other ‘influentials’ whose motives are not always clear, found the boy guilty and fined him TK 30,000. When his grandmother refused to pay the fine, obviously unable to do so, they started torturing the boy again.
Eventually he was rescued by police and admitted to the Sadar Hospital.
When approached, Rashed, the shop owner, said Nirab stole money from his shop and the arbitration found him guilty, fining him Tk 30,000.
Confirming the information, Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge AKM Azizur Rahman said a case was filed over the incident.
They arrested the shop owner and an accomplice from Banchanagar of the district town on Monday evening, he added.
Contacted, Local Ward Councilor Shipon Ahmed said he is not aware of the incident. There might have been a conspiracy against them over the incident, he claimed.