India marathon boy torture charge

The coach of a six-year-old Indian boy famous for running marathons has been charged with torture, police say.

They say that Biranchi Das was arrested after Budhia Singh's mother said she had found scars on the body of her son. Mr Das strongly denies any wrongdoing.

Budhia began running at three and last year entered the record books for covering 65km (40 miles) uninterrupted in just over seven hours.

Officials dubbed him "marathon boy", and he became an overnight celebrity.

Budhia told television channels that Mr Das had punished him by keeping him confined in a room without food for two days.

"He also beat me with a hot iron rod," Budhia said, showing burn marks on his hands.