Cops, community members continue search for 10-yr-old, who went missing after humiliation in Sangli village

More shocking information has come to the fore in the case of the naked humiliation of a ten-year-old boy in Khanapur village of Home Minister R R Patil's home district Sangli. According to locals, former Shiv Sena district chief Baban Bhagat played a leading role in parading the boy naked through the village streets on Friday after a staunch supporter of Patil claimed the child had stolen Rs 100 from him.


Shocking: Former Shiv Sena Sangli district chief Baban Bhagat (circled)
is seen as the boy is paraded naked in Khanapur village

MiD DAY has accessed the photograph that shows Bhagat discussing the matter with the crowd around the Pardhi community boy, who was stripped and made to wear a board with the words 'I am thief' written on it in Marathi. Prakash Vaydande, a leader of the Pardhi community, said Bhagat and his people took the lead in parading the boy naked through Khanapur.


Tuesday's MiD DAY report on the incident

"Shockingly, this all started after Home Minister R R Patil's steadfast supporter Kanase claimed that the boy
had stolen his Rs 100 note and led the crowd on to commit this inhuman act," Vaydande said. While the man called Kanase could not be contacted, Bhagat denied the allegations, saying he had instead saved the boy from the crowd.

"The villagers who had come for the weekly bazaar stripped the boy and shaved his head," Bhagat said. "I only made the boy sit outside my residence. It was I who asked the crowd not to touch the boy." He claimed that the boy was not made to sit in the sun, adding that he even offered the child sharbat and biscuits. Bhagat said it did not strike him that the boy should also be given some clothes to wear when he was sitting in front of his residence.

He added that the crowd reacted in the manner it did because of the many incidents of people losing their money to petty thieves at the bazaar every week. "Villagers have often complained of their pockets being picked during the weekly bazaar. So they reacted in this manner when they thought the boy had stolen the money," he said. Pardhi Mukti Andolan leaders, who are trying hard to trace the boy, said their efforts had so far proved unsuccessful. "We have combed the entire area and visited places around Khanapur, but to our bad luck we have not succeeded in tracing the boy," Vaydande said. "We suspect that the boy and his family must have gone into hiding after he was subjected to such extreme humiliation."

Vaydande added that Pardhi Mukti Andolan activists had decided to meet Collector Shyam Vardhane to demand action against the guilty and "slap the Atrocities Act against Bhagat and others". He also wanted action to be taken against the police.

"Even after a local journalist informed ASI Mulla, he did not act, so we are demanding his suspension," he said.
Additional Superintendent of Police Anil Paraskar said he had issued orders to trace the boy. "A third party case can be registered against the mob that subjected the boy to the extreme humiliation. But we are tracing the boy so that his statement can be recorded to make the case watertight," Paraskar said. "Last Friday, the police received a call from an unknown person and when they reached the spot, the boy was fully dressed. So,
initially, they did not suspect anything wrong. Later, they came to know about the entire incident.

"MORE shocking information has come to the fore in the case of the naked humiliation of a ten-year-old boy in Khanapur village of Home Minister R R Patil's home district Sangli. According to locals, former Shiv Sena district chief Baban Bhagat played a leading role in parading the boy naked through the village streets on Friday after a staunch supporter of Patil claimed the child had stolen Rs 100 from him.

MiD DAY has accessed the photograph that shows Bhagat discussing the matter with the crowd around the Pardhi community boy, who was stripped and made to wear a board with the words 'I am thief' written on it in Marathi. Prakash Vaydande, a leader of the Pardhi community, said Bhagat and his people took the lead in parading the boy naked through Khanapur. "Shockingly, this all started after Home Minister R R Patil's steadfast supporter Kanase claimed that the boy had stolen his Rs 100 note and led the crowd on to commit this inhuman act," Vaydande said.

While the man called Kanase could not be contacted, Bhagat denied the allegations, saying he had instead saved the boy from the crowd."The villagers who had come for the weekly bazaar stripped the boy and shaved his head," Bhagat said. "I only made the boy sit outside my residence. It was I who asked the crowd not to touch the boy." He claimed that the boy was not made to sit in the sun, adding that he even offered the child sharbat and biscuits. Bhagat said it did not strike him that the boy should also be given some clothes to wear when he was sitting in front of his residence.

He added that the crowd reacted in the manner it did because of the many incidents of people losing their money to petty thieves at the bazaar every week. "Villagers have often complained of their pockets being picked during the weekly bazaar. So they reacted in this manner when they thought the boy had stolen the money," he said. Pardhi Mukti Andolan leaders, who are trying hard to trace the boy, said their efforts had so far proved unsuccessful."We have combed the entire area and visited places around Khanapur, but to our bad luck we have not succeeded in tracing the boy," Vaydande said. "We suspect that the boy and his family must have gone into hiding after he was subjected to such extreme humiliation."

Vaydande added that Pardhi Mukti Andolan activists had decided to meet Collector Shyam Vardhane to demand action against the guilty and "slap the Atrocities Act against Bhagat and others". He also wanted action to be taken against the police.

"Even after a local journalist informed ASI Mulla, he did not act, so we are demanding his suspension," he said. Additional Superintendent of Police Anil Paraskar said he had issued orders to trace the boy. "A third party case can be registered against the mob that subjected the boy to the extreme humiliation. But we are tracing the boy so that his statement can be recorded to make the case watertight," Paraskar said. "Last Friday, the police received a call from an unknown person and when they reached the spot, the boy was fully dressed. So,
initially, they did not suspect anything wrong. Later, they came to know about the entire incident."

Rights panel visit
Members of the Child Rights Commission paid a visit to Khanapur and surveyed the area. They recorded the statements of the villagers.