A 14-year-old Muslim boy was beaten mercilessly on Friday inside a temple in Ghaziabad in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Hindustan Times reported.
The incident gained public attention after a video of the 23-year-old temple caretaker, Shringi Nandan Yadav, beating the minor went viral.
The video showed the accused asking the boy for his and his father’s name. Then he asked the boy what he was doing inside the temple.
After the boy said that he came to drink water, the accused began thrashing him. He hit the boy on the head and twisted his arm. The accused continued to hit the boy even after he fell down.
All this while, the man’s accomplice recorded the video. The video was originally shared by an Instagram account called Hindu Ekta Sangh. It has since been deleted.
The police identified the accused and his accomplice as Shringi Narayan Yadav and Shivanand Saraswati, caretakers at the temple.
Superintendent of Police (Rural) Iraj Raja confirmed to The Hindu that the two were arrested and a case was filed against them under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code and some sections of the IT Act.
The boy’s father told Hindustan Times that his son did not normally go inside the temple, but he was thirsty that day. “I have asked him not to go there in the future,” the father said, adding that his son suffered head injuries.
Meanwhile, another caretaker at the temple alleged that the boy was caught spitting in the premises.
“There are several taps outside the temple from where people drink water,” he told the newspaper.
“Our caretakers caught the boy spitting inside the temple. They have been arrested and we will seek legal recourse to get them bail.”
