Child worker in lucknow beaten for four hours

For four hours, he was whipped with a leather belt. Then the eight-year-old's employer rubbed salt into the child's wounds.

This was Mohit's punishment after 700 rupees went missing from his boss' juice stand in Lucknow. When people in the neighbourhood saw Mohit lying injured on the road, they grabbed his employer and handed him to the police.

The employer, Raju, has been arrested and faces up to seven years in prison if he is convicted for criminal intimidation. That is what Mohit hopes for. "I want the police to punish him so that he never repeats this kind of behaviour with any other boy."

Employing children as workers in dhabas and stalls like Raju's is illegal. Raju has also been charged with violating child labour laws. The police have no explanation for why Mohit was not spotted working at the stall and rescued much earlier.

Mohit arrived in Lucknow seven months ago with a friend from his village of Baharaich in North Eastern Uttar Pradesh. He was hired immediately by Raju to peel fruit at his stall. Mohit was allowed to sleep at the juice stall.

The police plan to send Mohit home, but Mohit aspires to a more normal childhood after his traumatic experience. "I want to study ... if possible in Lucknow," he requests.

Here is the video:




Source: NDTV.com, December 24, 2009