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Two poultry farm owners allegedly thrashed three boys of Dalit community, suspecting them of stealing 5 kg wheat, and paraded them with shaved heads and blackened faces in a village Bahraich, the police said.
The victims' families claimed the duo tortured the boys as they did not report at the poultry farm for work.
The incident was reported on Tuesday from Tajpur Tedia village under the Nanpara police station limits of Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district, they said.
The accused allegedly thrashed the three boys, aged 12-14 years, shaved their heads, blackened their faces, wrote 'thief' on their forearms, and paraded them around the village with their hands tied, according to the police.
Nanpara SHO Pradeep Singh said based on a complaint by the victims' family members, a case was registered on Wednesday against four accused persons -- Nazim Khan, Qasim Khan, Inayat and Sanu -- under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act.
Sanu, a former village head, is absconding, while the remaining three have been arrested, Singh said.
The victims, belonging to Dalit and OBC communities, told reporters on Wednesday that Nazim and Qasim, who together ran a poultry farm in the village, accused them of stealing 5 kg wheat.
The duo allegedly hurled casteist slurs, tried to strangle them with electric cables before parading them around the village with their heads shaved, faces blackened, and 'thief' written on their forearms, they told reporters.
Sanu and Inayat accompanied the accused and threatened the boys, they alleged.
The accused even filmed the act on their mobile phones, the villagers claimed.
The victim's family members, meanwhile, claimed that Nazim and Qasim tortured the three boys since they did not report at the poultry farm for work.
Considering the sensitivity of the matter, adequate forces have been deployed in the village as a precautionary measure, the police said.