Pune: Boy and his parents need extensive mental health evaluation, say experts on Kondhwa confinement incident

“I hope that the child is placed in foster care and not relegated to probation and an aftercare home where he will be with dozens of small children,” Dr Shukla said and stressed that this case highlighted the need to be alert and watchful for children in our surroundings.

“Though they are not our own children, we have collective parenting responsibility for all children around us. Also, schools need to rise above their usual obsession with their “reputation”. They should immediately contact child helplines without hesitation. Schools are a huge part of the safety net for children and they should not shirk away from this responsibility,” Dr Shukla added.

A leading psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty said that this was an “extremely sad incident” where the child was completely traumatised by the cruel behaviour of his parents. Apart from giving counselling to the child, the parents need to be treated by mental health professionals. “There are mindful animal lovers who love the universe and all its beings. Then there are actual animal haters who keep cats and dogs in small holes thereby traumatising these animals and others living around them,” he said.