10-year-old boy's arms chopped off in Gujarat over electricity dispute

The boy was initially beaten with glass bottles and had hot water thrown on him before his arms were chopped off.

GUJRAT: A man in Gujarat allegedly chopped off both arms of a 10-year-old boy after torturing him following a dispute over an electricity meter earlier this week, but then sought medical help for him to remedy the act.

According to details, local landlord Ghulam Mustafa, 30, had an argument with his neighbor Nasr Iqbal in Chakk Bhawala on July 15.

Mustafa had demanded that Iqbal pay him Rs5,000 for an electricity wire passing over his compound that was connected to Iqbal’s electricity meter. Iqbal though refused to pay the sum and both men had exchanged hot words over the issue.

The rivalry had simmered over the past 10 days.

On Monday, when Iqbal’s son Tabassum, 10, went to bathe at the nearby tube-well located on Mustafa’s compound, the still angry Mustafa beat him with glass bottles and allegedly poured hot water on him.

Tabassum then hid himself in the fields but Mustafa found him and tied him up using ropes. He then allegedly chopped off both his arms.

To cover up the matter, Mustafa took the boy to a private hospital on Bhambar Road and reportedly donated blood to the boy.

However, when the boy's father - Iqbal - found out about the incident and filed police report against Mustafa in the Cantt Gujrat police station.

Iqbal told The Express Tribune that SHO Shaukat Taupa refused to file a case without a medical report. Subsequently, no action was taken by the police against Mustafa.

Failing to move the police, Iqbal contacted the media after which the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif took notice of the incident and asked police officials for a detailed report.

Iqbal said that after the chief minister took notice, the police of Cantt Gujrat filed a case against Mustafa of attempted murder without demanding any medical certificate. The police also raided and arrested Mustafa from his residence.

The City Circle Police reached the hospital under supervision of DPO Rai Ijaz and SP Chaudry Usman.

DPO Ijaz later told the media that Mustafa claimed that the boy was his nephew, and that he had accidentally hit him and was embarrassed about it.

However, the Tabassum’s father claimed that Mustafa was lying and complained that the SHO had not listened to his family.

The DPO said that a 5-member board of doctors had been formed for Tabassum's treatment.