Father made 8-year-old son hit himself with shoe

An unusual case of child abuse has been reported in Meridian. On Tuesday evening, just after midnight, Meridian Police arrested a father for allegedly abusing his young son. Police are accusing Nirmal Singh Sambhi of punishing his 8-year-old son by forcing him to hit himself with a shoe. After the child hit himself, Singh bound the boy's hands and feet with rope.

Meridian Police Deputy Chief Tracy Basterrechea says a family member alerted police about what was happening in the home. "They had been contacted via e-mail that this had occurred, by someone inside the residence, and then they in turn contacted us," said Basterrechea. He said Sambhi and two children were the only people living in the home and were the only people there during the alleged abuse. He says Sambhi believed his son had stolen something and used the shoe and rope as punishment.



As a result, police removed both children from the home. They are now in custody of the state. "These are the cases we want to get in front of, and we want to get them before they become a tragic case like a Robert Manwill," said Basterrechea. Police are investigating the possibility of more abuse, but at this point, there is no indication of that. Still, Basterrechea says one time is too many.

"Abuse is abuse, and I think it's kind of like pornography, you know it when you see it, and our officers are trained to detect those things, and when you're leaving bruises and leaving marks on children, you're stepping over that line, and we're going to take some sort of action," said Basterrechea. Singh was arraigned on Wednesday afternoon on the felony charge. A judge set his bail at $100,000 and ordered him to have no contact with the victim. A preliminary hearing is set for next month.