The main accused, Mukhtiyar, is already in police custody over an unrelated property case
A teen boy was thrashed and made to lick a toilet in a horrific incident in Indore in Madhya Pradesh that was captured on camera by one of the attackers. According to police, the boy had been pressured into providing false testimony in a case that involved the son of one of the attackers. He was kidnapped and assaulted by the accused after he failed to convince the police of those allegations.
The police have confirmed that the main accused - Mukhtiyar, who they say filmed the video - is in custody after he was arrested in an unrelated case, and a search is on to locate the other attackers. The police also said Mukhtiyar shared the video in an attempt to intimidate others and reinforce his dominance over them.
"Mukhtiyar's son had been stabbed by four others two months ago. All four had been arrested and charged, but Mukhtiyar wanted to book two other boys in the case. He pressured this boy to make a statement against them and came with him to the police station," Ruchi Vardhan, Deputy Inspector-General, told NDTV.
On investigation the police found no evidence linking the two boys to the attack on Mukhtiyar's son. An enraged Mukhtiyar then kidnapped the teenage boy and brutally thrashed him.
In the video, which is shot in a darkened room, the young boy is held by one of his attackers (whose face is not seen) and forced to stand upright while a second repeatedly hits him with a stick. The boy, who is crying, tries to pull away but is dragged back each time.
In even more disturbing and upsetting scenes, the boy is also seen crawling to a toilet and licking the inside of the bowl, while one of his attackers makes lewd comments about his mother and sister.
The boy, who is now in police custody, is believed to be stable and undergoing medical treatment.
The video was recovered by the police from Mukhtiyar's mobile phone after he was arrested in connection a property dispute. Police say the video had been circulated
"At the time (when the boy was pressured to provide false testimony), he was so terrified he couldn't tell us he was being forced to give false evidence. We only got to know after Mukhtiyar was arrested in a different case and we found this video when we checked his mobile phone," Ruchi Vardhan added.
The police tracked down the boy in the video and persuaded his family to file a fresh case against Mukhtiyar.
According to the police, Mukhtiyar has more than a dozen cases of land grabbing, extortion and encroachment filed against him. However, the police say they have had to tread lightly because of alleged political connections; Mukhtiyar has been spotted with Bala Bachchan, a Congress MLA and the current Home Minister in Chief Minister Kamal Nath's government.