RATLAM -- In a shocking incident, five boys were allegedly forced by a man to take an "innocence test" by dipping their hands in a cauldron of boiling oil to prove they had not stolen his son's mobile phone.
Following the incident in Narsinghpada village in Ratlam on Monday evening, three of the boys were admitted with severe injuries to their hands in a government hospital at Raoti, while rest sustained minor injuries, police said.
The boys, all in the age group between 8 years and 15 years, were forced to take the "test" by Chhagan Lal Varia who suspected that one of them had stolen his 13-year-old son's handset.
Citing "local superstitions", the accused asked the boys to undertake the "test" telling them they would not be injured if they are innocent.
"Five teenage boys received injuries after being forced to dip their hands in hot oil to prove their innocence in a case related to a missing mobile phone. We have nabbed the accused," Raoti police station in-charge Ram Singh Rathore said on Tuesday.
After Varia's son lost his mobile phone, he suspected it to be the handiwork of one of the five boys. "Last evening, he told the boys they need to prove their innocence by dipping their hands in boiling oil," Rathore said.
"We have arrested the accused after registering a case against him," he added.
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