Marathon boy banned from 500km walk

Mumbai: Budhia Singh, India's famous child marathon runner, was told on Saturday that he will not be allowed to participate in a 500-kilometre walk taking place on June 6.

"The child welfare committee at its meeting held here on Saturday evening has formally decided to impose a ban on Budhia Singh's proposed Bhubaneswar-to-Kolkata walk. The committee felt the walk may have an adverse impact on the child's health," Khurda district child welfare committee Rabi Shankar Mishra said.

"Use of a child, be it for a marathon run or a walk, amounts to torture and we are here to stop that," Mishra said.

Budhia, age five, became a celebrity last year after a 60-kilometre run between Puri and Bhubaneswar. Budhia runs 45 km twice a week and 20 km on other days.

Biranchi Das, Budhia's coach and adoptive father, has been summoned to appear before the committee for questioning. Mishra said the idea of making the child walk at the height of summer was difficult to accept and it was a question of a violation of human rights as well.

Das and his wife adopted Budhia after paying Rs.800 to his impoverished mother, who lives in a slum.