Budhia's Coach Arrested

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HERE WE GO AGAIN - KID MARATHONER ALLEGES CHILD ABUSE. IS ANYBODY REALLY SURPRISED?

BHUBANESWAR: Child marathon runner Budhia Singh’s coach Biranchi Das was arrested here on Monday on charges of torturing the child.

Bhubaneswar police picked up Mr. Das from the State Judo Hall soon after Budhia’s mother Sukanti Singh filed a complaint with the Badagada police.

Mr. Das was later produced before Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate Arun Kumar Sahu who remanded him to judicial custody till August 16. The magistrate rejected the application filed by the coach seeking bail in the case.

The police got Budhia medically examined at the Government-run Capital Hospital.

“Biranchi Das was physically torturing my son. Budhia was not even given required food. When we protested, Mr. Das threatened to kill us,” Ms. Singh told mediapersons outside the police station.

She also alleged that Mr. Das had taken away all the money, which he received for her son.

The coach said the charges were baseless. “The mother and child must have been instigated by somebody. The child was never ill-fed,” he said.

“The value of all donations I have received for Budhia is Rs. 1.32 lakh. I have spent most of the money on Budhia’s food and clothing. The mother was also given assistance,” Mr. Das said.

The State Women and Child Development (WCD) department ordered an inquiry into the allegations.

“All aspects of the torture will be inquired into. I have asked the Child Welfare Committee of Khurda district, a quasi judiciary body, to submit the report within two days,” WCD Minister Pramila Mallick said.

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IT GETS BETTER (WORSE ACTUALLY) . . .

Updated: 2:27 p.m. ET Aug. 13, 2007
NEW DELHI - The coach of a 6-year-old boy who ran a marathon last year in an attempt to set a world record was arrested Monday and charged with torturing the child, police said.

Biranchi Das was arrested after the boy’s mother said she discovered scars on the body of her son, Budhia Singh, said police official Sarat Chandra Sahu in Bhubaneshwar, the capital of the eastern state of Orissa.

Singh became an instant celebrity in record-crazy India when he ran 40 miles at the age of 4 — a feat that also drew immediate, widespread condemnation from medical officials and child rights activists.

Story continues below ↓

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The boy’s mother, Sukanti Singh, had supported Das’ efforts to train her son, but on Monday she alleged the man was severely mistreating the boy.

“Biranchi was beating him up regularly,” Sukanti Singh told reporters outside the police station. “He even once tied Budhia up from a ceiling fan and threw hot water on his body.” Budhia Singh had been living with the coach.

The boy was taken to a hospital for examinations, and was assigned security guards after his mother claimed Das has threatened their lives.

Das denied the allegations, calling the charges “a conspiracy against me hatched by the state government’s child welfare department.”

The department had condemned the boy’s participation in marathons as “torture” in May, a month before police stopped him from making a 60-mile walk in scorching heat across east India.

Financial incentive?
In 2006, Singh attempted to run a 43-mile marathon, sparking protests from child rights activists. Doctors stopped him after 40 miles, when he showed signs of extreme exhaustion.

They found the child to be undernourished, anemic and under cardiac stress.

Sukanti Singh also complained that Das was not fairly sharing the money he had earned from the boy’s long-distance exploits.

“He has given me very little, but he was earning a lot of money from my son’s hard work,” she said, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
THE FREAKING MOTHER SHOULD BE THROWN BEHIND BARS ALONG WITH THE COACH. kk

Budhia Singh’s father died when the boy was 7 months old. Das, who met the family two years ago, has said in the past that he has raised Singh as his son.

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I mean how much does the mother actually know about the amount of money he makes, i mean shoot its hard for runners to make money in 1st world countries so how much could he actually be making in a 2nd world country?..