Nepali child beaten to death for stealing 10 rupees

WireUpdate:  POKHARA, NEPAL (BNO NEWS) -- An 11-year-old boy was beaten to death in western Nepal after he and his friend were caught stealing 10 rupees ($0.18) from a butcher, a local newspaper reported on Monday.

Jeevan Shrestha was attacked on December 30 after he and a friend allegedly stole 10 rupees from a butcher in Beni, the headquarters of Myagdi District in Nepal's Dhawalagiri Zone. The butcher, the father of Shrestha's friend, found the children eating biscuits after the money was stolen.

The butcher, Aslam Khan, then allegedly attacked Shrestha, resulting in injuries to his throat, back and heart. "We brought the injured nephew to Pokhara after taking to other hospitals [which were unable to treat him] and he breathed his last at the Intensive Care Unit [on Sunday]," Shrestha's uncle, Deepak Shrestha, told the Republica newspaper.

According to the report, Shrestha was HIV-positive and had been living with his uncle after both his parents died of the disease. Khan reportedly agreed to pay 60,000 Indian rupees ($1,138) for the child's treatment if his uncle did not tell police.

After the child died of his injuries on Sunday, a complaint was lodged with police who then arrested Khan. Police are awaiting an autopsy report before charging the suspect with murder, the newspaper added.