“Having never read the book”, your assertion seems a bit... tenuous.
Having read articles about people who did read the book and acted like fools when it comes to dealing with their children I can make a logical conclusion. The parents are plumb dumb.
You don’t starve your kid.
You don’t beat your kid with a cat o’ nine tales
you don’t wrap your kid with a blanket so hard that he/she can’t breathe.
I don’t care what some book says to do that is not normal. A cat o’ nine tales? Honestly sounds like something from a porno movie.