Granthi held for thrashing boy

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, April 27

The police arrested a granthi (priest) of a gurdwara on Friday after a video of a nine-year-old boy with injury marks on his back alleging that he was beaten up by the priest for not washing his hands went viral on Thursday evening. The Sunam police had registered a case on Thursday against Granthi Sher Singh.

The victim on Thursday showed injuries to his teachers at Government Primary School, Surajkund. He alleged that the granthi of a gurdwara on Kacha Paha Road, Sunam, Sher Singh, thrashed him with a wire for not washing his hands before the morning prayers in the village gurdwara. Teachers prepared a video clip of the boy showing his injuries and uploaded it on social media. Sunam-based social worker Jatinder Jain, after seeing the video, took up the matter with the city police station, Sunam.

“After seeing the video, I along with locals went to the gurdwara, where Sher Singh said he slapped the boy, but failed to give any satisfactory reason for it,” said Jain.

Jain said the boy and his elder brother, after the death of their father three years ago, were left in the gurdwara for religious education by their mother, who is a resident of Ajnaunda village as she did not have required financial resources to provide them education and other facilities.

The police after medical examination of the victim, sent both brothers to Pingalwara on Thursday evening. On Friday, their mother reached Pingalwara and brought both of them to her house.

“I had left both sons at the gurdwara because we did not have required resources to provide education and other facilities to them. Now I have decided that they will stay with me,” she said.

Sunam SHO Bharpur Singh said they had arrested Sher Singh. “We have registered a case against Sher Singh under Sections 323 of the IPC and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act-2015,” he said.

Video goes viral 

• A video of a nine-year-old boy with injury marks on his back alleging that he was beaten up by the priest for not washing his hands went viral on Thursday evening. 
• The Sunam police registered a case against Granthi Sher Singh on Thursday. 
• The victim alleged that the granthi thrashed him with a wire for not washing his hands before the morning prayers in the village gurdwara.   

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