by B. R. GOWANI
Mallahi of Sitamarhi is a small village in India — 2011 population: 5,248
reently, five boys stole one Snickers<1> chocolate bar
they were coerced to strip naked and were tied together with a rope
they were garlanded with slippers and were paraded in a market
the shop owner forced them to state their & their fathers’ names on camera
causing so much humiliation for just one bar of Snickers
in 2016, 3 boys were tormented for alleged stealing of moterbike
it happened in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan in India (victims in the photo above)
they were stripped naked, tied to a tree, flogged and then paraded
as usual, people watches and teases the victims
many of us humans are sadists
they had to be admitted into hospital
police, instead of pursuing the torturers, filed a report against the boys
the boys, between 13 & 15, suffered beating by adults till they bled
the boys were Dalits, a low caste, & the tormentors were from upper caste
these kind of scenes are not restricted to any one country
in happens in Nigeria, United States, Pakistan, and other countries
however, India witnesses too many such cases every now and then
Note
*Mars Co. is a US based giant multinational involved in many businesses
their annual sale of Snickers chocolate bars is over $380 million
like many other companies, they use child/slave labor, of course, indirectly
Snickers’ advertising slogan is
“Maybe You Just Need a Snickers. You’re Not You When You’re Hungry.”
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com