Case filed for strapping 3-year-old to tableau

Amid outrage over a three-year-old child being strapped on to a tableau structure for over two hours during a Sree Krishna Jayanthi procession in Kannur, the state child rights panel on Thursday registered suomotu a case in connection with the incident.

The boy, dressed as Lord Krishna, was tied at the waist to a slanting peepal leaf replica as part of the tableau during the procession in Payyannur on Tuesday.

The child was photographed by a resident of Payyannur – Sreekanth Usha Prabhakaran – and the image was shared widely on social media.

Vivekananda Seva Samithi had organised the procession.

Sreekanth said in a Facebook post that the tired child was trying to escape the heat by closing his eyes.

The response to his calls to the district childline authorities was not encouraging.

He said police officials, including the Payyannur sub-inspector, were at the location.

The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights registered the case based on media reports on the incident.

The commission has sought a report from the home secretary, state police chief, Kannur district collector, district police chief and district child protection officer in 15 days.

Abuses, threat calls

On Thursday, Sreekanth said he received abusive and threatening phone calls for posting the image on Facebook.

He said his statement was yet to be recorded.

DH News Service