5 children accused of theft beaten up in police station: Maharashtra child rights body demands strict action

Thane/Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has directed authorities to suspend personnel allegedly involved in beating up five minors who were detained by Shivajinagar police in Mumbai on suspicion of theft.

The five minors, who were accused of stealing Rs 63,000 from a woman's purse, were hit inside the police station, their parents had claimed. A complaint was also submitted to the Child Welfare Committee that a 15-year-old boy was kept in police custody overnight.

In a release issued on Monday, the MSCPCR said its chairperson Susieben Shah has written to Maharashtra Additional Director General of Police Deepak Pandey to appoint a committee under a deputy commissioner of police (DCP) rank officer to probe such cases.

The committee must submit a report within 15 days on how the children's rights were violated by the police while handling this case, the release quoted Shah as saying.

A meeting was held on March 19 by the MSCPCR, which was attended by ADG Pandey, Shivajinagar police station officials, the parents of the children, among others, it said.

'The commission has ordered to take action against the guilty policemen in the case. Upon medical examination of these victim children, fresh marks of beating like abrasions and blunt trauma were found,' Shah said.

Stringent directions have been given to suspend the police personnel involved till completion of the probe, the MSCPCR release informed.