Police have arrested the shop-owner Krishna. (Representational image)
A 10-year-old boy in Hyderabad was stripped and tortured with chilly powder on his private parts, allegedly as punishment for stealing a soft drink from a neighbour's shop.
The shop owner, Krishna, has been arrested and charged.
The child's mother went to the police in Hyderabad on Monday evening, complaining that a local shop owner had taken away her son to the terrace of his home, stripped him naked and beaten him after spraying chilly powder on his body.
In a disturbing video, the boy weeps and begs as he sits naked and tied up with a nylon string on the neighbour's terrace, writhing in pain. It appears that the boy's eyes are hurting, and he is seen rubbing parts of his body that are burning because of chilly powder.
A man is heard threatening the child, allegedly for stealing, even though the boy pleads and apparently admits to some of what he is accused of.
The boy's uncle said he was beaten with a pipe and threatened.
"Why couldn't he have informed us or shown us CCTV footage that the boy was stealing from his shop? How can he take him away to his house and beat him up like this,'' said the uncle, furious.
The boy's mother said he had been falsely blamed, that he may have just "touched or moved" a soft drink bottle.
Police officer Saida Babu told NDTV that the shopkeeper wanted to scare the child into giving up stealing. The man said the child often took from his shop.
The 30-year-old storeowner faces charges like "voluntarily causing hurt", wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation.