Bangladesh police Monday arrested a spinning mill worker for allegedly torturing a nine-year-old boy to death with an air compressor, the second such incident in less than a year, officers said.
Sagar Barman died of internal injuries in hospital late Sunday after his family alleges eight mill workers were involved in forcing the compressor into the boy's rectum and turning on the machine.
The boy also worked at the mill in Rupganj town, just south of Dhaka, one of millions of child workers in impoverished Bangladesh, many of them employed in hazardous industries.
"We have arrested the mill's assistant administrative officer. We've also launched a hunt for others accused including three production managers who were named in the case," Rupganj police chief Ismail Hossain told AFP.
Police inspector Jasim Uddin, who is investigating the killing, said senior employees had been "angry" at the boy and his father who also worked there for entering a restricted area of the mill.
The incident comes after a 13-year-old boy was killed in the same way last August in the southwestern city of Khulna, sparking furious protests demanding justice for the child.
Two men have been sentenced to death over that case.
Nationwide demonstrations were also held last July over the lynching of another 13-year-old boy, who was tied to a pole and beaten to death after he was accused of stealing a bicycle.
Six men were sentenced to death for that killing in the city of Sylhet, which was captured on video and uploaded onto social media. The boy was heard pleading for his life.
