KOLHAPUR: A 13-year-old boy from a scheduled caste was allegedly stripped, beaten and paraded naked on Friday from his house in Ajara taluka to the gram panchayat office by the relatives of a minor girl for offering her a chocolate and holding her hand.The Kolhapur police have arrested two relatives of the 10-year-old girl, who belongs to an upper caste, in connection with the incident. They have been arrested under several sections of Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.Tension prevailed in the village on Friday following the incident. The police claimed the situation had been brought under control after they convened a meeting of members of both communities on Saturday.“The families of the boy and girl knew each other well. A month ago, the boy offered a chocolate to the girl while they were returning from school and held her hand,” an officer of the Ajara police station said. “When she got home the girl told her parents. After this, tension surfaced between the two families,” he said.The girl’s parents sent her to her uncle’s residence in Mumbai as a precautionary measure. Two days ago, the girl’s uncle came to the village from Mumbai.“On Friday he and his friend entered the boy’s house, took him to a room, and locked the door. They beat him up. Later, they stripped him and paraded him naked from his house to the gram panchayat office located in the middle of the village, abusing him and his parents on the way. They warned him against repeating the action,” the officer said.Superintendent of police Abhinav Deshmukh said, “Our officers reached the spot as soon as we learned of the incident and brought the situation under control. The boy was rushed to a local hospital for treatment. Two persons responsible for the act were immediately detained.”Deshmukh said that a meeting of members from both communities was convened on Friday night and the police assured them that appropriate action would be taken against the suspects. “The situation has returned to normal after we arrested the two responsible for the act. However, as a precautionary measure, we have deployed a police force in the village to ensure that peace prevails,” he said.The two suspects have been booked under sections 452 (house trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and several sections of the SC/ST Act.

Stay updated with all the Pune Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.