Work Ethics: Employer arrested for beating 15-year-old helper

Boy tortured because he had stolen Rs14,000 from the shop; boy denies saying he was just demanding his salary

MULTAN:

A shopkeeper was remanded in police custody for a day on Thursday on charges of beating up his 15-year-old helper whom he suspected of theft, shaving his head and parading him in streets.

The family of the boy, Irfan, is expected to settle the matter with his employer, Muhammad Iqbal, by Friday, Setal Mari police investigation in charge said. He said Iqbal told the police that he had beaten up the boy because he had stolen Rs14,000 from his shop. “He said the boy had a spare key to the shop which he used to unlock it in the shopkeeper’s absence and stole the money,” he said.

Irfan’s parents earlier said the child had not stolen anything. They said he was beaten up because he had demanded his salary. “He has been working at Iqbal’s shop for three years. He has not been paid his salary regularly,” the parents said. They said Irfan had demanded his salary on Wednesday on which the shopkeeper started beating him.

Eyewitnesses said the boy was paraded in the streets on the back of a donkey and then made to sit in the sun as “a punishment for stealing”. The shopkeeper, however, denied that he had paraded the boy. He said he had beaten him up to teach him a lesson. The FIR against Iqbal was registered under Section 342 of the PPC.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2011.