Mumbai: Borivli police book 68-year-old who beat up child for playing

A Borivli resident has been accused of assaulting an eightyearold child to the extent that the child has become scared of stepping outside the house The Borivli police on Saturday registered an FIR against the resident in the incident from NovemberThis is the third instance wherein violence and mistreatmentmdashincluding assault slapping and verbal abusemdashagainst children has led to FIRs by Mumbai police against individuals The assaults have led to traumatised children who consequently refuse to leave the house out of fear of further abuse or mistreatmentIn the recent incident the Borivli police registered an FIR against the 68yearold man accused of slapping beating and abusing the child The child a Std III student resides with his parents in Borivli West The accused is a resident of the same housing society as the boyAccording to the parentsrsquo complaint to the police the child has been experiencing depression and has been diagnosed with agoraphobia The Borivli police have started investigating the matter Just a few days before this case the Borivli police had registered another FIR against an individual who slapped a fouryearold in a play zoneWhy was child assaultedAccording to Borivli police the incident involving the eightyearold boy occurred on November 11 while he was playing with friends in the housing societyrsquos compound Irritated by the children running around the accused told them to play elsewhere Subsequently the accused grabbed and beat up the boy The incident was captured by CCTV cameras in the societyThe childrsquos father employed at a private bank received a call from his wife about the incident while he was at work Upon reaching home the father spoke with his son who narrated the incident The accused justified his actions claiming misbehaviour by the child The accusedrsquos son apologised to the childrsquos father who then discovered the severity of the incident when he saw the CCTV footageMedical evaluationThe CCTV footage shows the accused physically assaulting the child causing fear and distress The scared child apologised and begged to be let go but the accused continued to shout at him The incident traumatised the child to such an extent that he became reluctant to venture outside to playThe childrsquos family then consulted their family doctor Dr Shilpa Sangore who recommended seeking the expertise of Dr Kinnari Doshi a neuropsychiatrist Subsequently on November 26 Dr Doshi diagnosed the child with agoraphobia a condition characterised by a fear of situations where escape might be difficult or help may not be readily availableThe CCTV footage and the mental health diagnosis prompted the family to register an FIR against the man Senior Police Inspector Ninad Sawant of Borivli police told midday ldquoWe checked CCTV footage of the society and found the child was beaten and scolded by the accused We registered the FIR against the accused and gave notice to him to be present for the proberdquoDoctorrsquos viewNeuropsychiatrist Dr Doshi who treated the child told midday ldquoThe child has been diagnosed with adjustment disorder which can turn into agoraphobia It is mostly found in children and women In certain cases we give psychotherapy If anxiety continues for a long time we give medicines along with psychotherapy In certain cases the child thinks that they are trapped somewhere without any escape route In this case the child is suffering because he was beaten and scolded loudly which impacted his mind We request parents that if their child is behaving differently they must consult a psychiatrist to diagnose it It will help the child come out of the trauma at the earliestrdquoPrevious casesgtgt A man allegedly slapped a fouryearold boy in the play zone at Humpty Jumpty located at Moksh Plaza Borivli West The boy and a fouryearold girl got into a fight in the play zone over a toy Noticing the fight the girlrsquos father entered the play zone and slapped the boy The boyrsquos mother who works in the police department dragged the accused to Borivli police and registered an FIR The incident affected the child negatively and he is scared of stepping out of the house alonegtgt A 60yearold man assaulted a sevenyearold girl grabbed her ears and threatened her with a small knife A complaint naming the man Mirza Beg was submitted to Oshiwara police and an FIR was subsequently registeredNov 11Day incident took place