New Delhi: Four Dalit boys, aged 11 to 13, were tied by their wrists and made to walk four kilometres in Punjab’s Sangrur district for a theft they had allegedly committed. The incident came to light when a video of the incident surfaced online and went viral, according to media reports.A case has been registered at Dhuri Sadar police station in the district, and the police have already arrested four men in connection with the incident. The families of the boys have also petitoned the state child rights commission.While there are different versions of the timeline, as to how the crime had been committed, the incident involves Banbhori and Bhasaur villages in the Dhuri sub-division of Punjab’s Sangrur district.According to Hindustan Times, the boys of Bhasaur had stolen Rs 300 from a tomb (samadhi) in neighbouring Banbhori village on March 7. They were caught by the villagers of Banbhori and the sarpanch and panchayat members of Bhasaur had been informed about the theft.Sarpanch Gurnam Singh of Bhasaur said that by the time they reached Banbhori, the boys’ wrists had already been tied with a rope.Also read: What the MP Children’s Murders Tell Us About Caste and Cleanliness“Our rivals have made a mountain out of a molehill. When we reached Banbhori village, their hands were already tied with a rope. We asked them to walk and imposed a fine to teach them a lesson. We did not assault anyone,” Singh was quoted by Hindustan Times.Residents of Banbhori however denied tying the hands of the boys. “The four accused had stolen some items from a religious place of our village. After identifying them on a CCTV camera, the villagers brought them to our village on March 10. Later, we handed them over to the Bhasaur village panchayat but we did not tie their hands,” Surinderpal Singh, husband of Banbhori sarpanch Baldev Kaur, was quoted as having said by The Tribune.Bhasaur sarpanch, Singh, for his part, said that they had, in fact, saved the boys from the wrath of the crowd, but blamed “some unidentified persons” who uploaded the video on social media to “defame” their villages.Meanwhile, the families of the boys have approached the child rights commission for justice. “One of them has suffered a fracture on his wrist when he was beaten up. I have filed an application with the police and child rights commission. We want justice and punishment for the accused,” Gurmeet Singh, father of one of the boys, was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.Dhuri Sadar police station in-charge Deepinderpal Singh said that the police have booked four men, including sarpanch Gurnam Singh. A case has been registered under Sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Act.