Budaun, Jun 14 (IANS): In a shocking incident, a 12-year-old mentally-challenged boy's head was tonsured by a barber in Uttar Pradesh's Budaun ostensibly because his parents had supported BJP instead of BSP or SP in the Lok Sabha polls, police said.

The barber, who has a shop at Bilsi in Budaun, has been charged under the SC/ST Act.

SHO (Bilsi), Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, said, "An FIR has been registered under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intention to provoke breach of peace), and SC/ST Act against the accused following a complaint filed by the boy's mother. We are investigating the entire matter and action will be taken accordingly."

In her police complaint, the boy's mother, Munni, said, "During the Lok Sabha polls, our family opted for BJP, owing to which the barber and a few others in our locality were unhappy. They forcibly took my son, who was playing near our house and shaved his head. My son is very upset after this humiliation. My husband later confronted those people, but they misbehaved. So, we approached the police."

The accused barber's uncle refuted the parents' claims alleging that his nephew had shaved the boy's head at the mother's request.