OpinionBug.com

In this collage, an Iranian child is being punished by having his arm crushed by a vehicle’s wheel. The boy’s arm will be permanently disabled by this “punishment.” What was his crime? Stealing bread …

Warning: Graphic Content – click more to view photo collage -

Source: photographer and date of photographs unknown

Large version: [ click here ]

Update (8/7/2006 9:11pm):

I just discovered that this story is based on inaccurate information, thus a hoax:

Snopes.com says, “What the photographs actually depict (according to the operator of the site that originally published them) is performers hustling money from onlookers by staging an act, one in which a subject seemingly allows himself to be run over by a heavy vehicle and then emerges unscathed. (Note the man with the microphone in the first picture, who drums up business and describes the action for observers. Also note the blanket placed under the boy’s arm — not a consideration persons intent on severely punishing a lawbreaker would be likely to provide.) This a common illusion, variations of which are performed by many magicians and accomplished through a variety of means, with no lasting harm done. That the subject is a small boy who grimaces his way through the stunt is all part of the act, intended to elicit sympathy and extra cash — despite his contorted facial expressions, the boy is not seriously hurt.” …

Source: Snopes.com