Police personnel based in Guthu of Surkhet district have come under severe criticism for parading two juveniles -- Krishna Bahadur Thapa, 16, of Birendranagar and Pravesh Sunar, 13, of Guthu -- around the local market with garlands of shoes and slippers. They were arrested by the police two weeks ago on the charges of beating a local youth. The next day of their arrest, a team of police consisting of acting in-charge of the police post, head constable Kamal BK, and police constables Arjun Chand and Pradip Khadka paraded the arrested around the local market after making them wear garlands of shoes and slippers and smearing moot on their faces, according to the victims' families. "We punish those involved in social crimes in a similar way," head constable BK said. The police paraded the accused around the market for an hour. However, the incident came to light only on Tuesday after the families of the accused juveniles informed the media about the police personnel stepping over the line. The victims' families demanded proper treatment of their children and action against the concerned police personnel for their involvement in torture and forcing them to wear garlands of shoes while parading them around the market place against the basic rule of law. "The police mercilessly beat my son in front of my eyes and paraded him around the market," Pravesh's father Ran Bahadur Sunar said. "The police even thrashed me whenever I pleaded them not to do so." The police had also threatened the locals of stern action. "The police threatened us not to take photographs and videos while the accused were being paraded around the market with garlands of shoes and slippers," said a local entrepreneur. "We're compelled to be mute spectators to such highhandedness by the police." The local, who did not want to be named, also informed that the police also threatened to kill them if they made the incident public. Earlier on April 25, police received a complaint against Krishna and Pravesh following a dispute against Mangal Joshi and Dipendra Rokaya in the market. The police arrested Krishna on the same day while Ran Bahadur handed over his son to the police at the police station. "As my son had not done any mistake, I myself handed over him to the police following the complaint filed against him," Pravesh's father said. "Immediately after police took him into custody, they started thrashing him with batons, boots, and fists." Following the torture by the police, eighth-grader Pravesh has stopped going to his school. He is mentally disturbed now, according to the family. Meanwhile, the District Police Officer (DPO), Surkhet refused to register complaints when the victims' parents tried to lodge complaints against the police on April 28. One of the police personnel at the DPO reportedly told them, "First come to us after settling the issues. We'll provide them treatment." Two days have already passed since they visited the DPO for registering their complaints. But the DPO has not registered their complaints yet. Police have already admitted to their highhandedness. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Birendra Shrestha had ordered Inspector Kamal Bista of Babiyachaur-based Area Police Office for investigation immediately after the incident. "We found that our men thrashed the arrested Krishna and Pravesh after they fled from the custody. We are carrying out further investigation," DSP Shrestha said. Inspector Bista informed that the accused acting in-charge and two police constables involved in the incident have been called back to Babiyachaur-based Area Police Office for further action. "Our men were at fault. We have already initiated action against the accused police personnel," added Inspector Bista. "We have also informed the victims of providing them with medical treatment but they haven't responded yet.