Oupada: A nine-year-old boy was left battling for his life after he was tortured and branded with hot iron rods by his father and step-mother at Kalsuni Chandrapada village near Simulia in Balasore district.
The boy suffered severe burn injuries due to branding in several parts of his body. The matter came to the fore after the boy was seen crying in pain and wandering at a nearby market after running away from his house.
Locals spotted the boy’s injuries and inquired about it.
After getting information from the locals, the Childline officials rescued the boy and admitted him to a hospital.
The accused persons were identified as Tarun Sarkar (35), father of the boy and his step-mom Manika Sarkar (25).
Tarun married Manika after the death of his first wife. Instead of sending the boy to school, the couple used to force him to do odd jobs at home. They also forced him to work at different houses and even took the money he earned.
Besides starving him when he refused to go for work, they also inflicted mental and physical torture on the boy.
This Sunday also, the couple forced him to go out for work but when the boy resisted, they thrashed him.
Not satisfied with their punishment, the couple then branded him with iron rods in various parts of his body.
On the direction of Childline director Madanmohan Behera, a team comprising officials Tapaswini Rout, Panchanan Tripathy and Chinmayee Padhi, rescued the boy.
A case was registered at the local police station by the officials and a probe was launched.
The boy would be produced before the District Child Welfare Committee and would be rehabilitated for better education, the officials said.
