Priest allegedly beats, ties child to tree for eating almonds kept as offering

An 11-year-old boy was allegedly tied to a tree and beaten up by the priest of a Jain temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar after the child took almonds kept as offering, police said on Saturday.

Based on a complaint lodged by the boy's father, a case has been registered against Rakesh Jain, a priest at Jain Siddaytan Mandir in Kareela, Motinagar police station in-charge Satish Singh said.

A purported video showing the boy tied to a tree crying and asking to be freed surfaced on social media on Saturday.

According to the complainant, the boy was accused of stealing almonds when he was standing near the temple's gate on Thursday. He alleged that that the priest with the help of another man tied the child to the tree and beat him up.

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A case has been registered against the accused priest under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the official said, adding that no arrest has been made so far.