Hmm!! I wouldn't 100 % agree on what the Prabhu, I do agree on that there should have some Leniency on them. But what I don't understand is you both are India's - you are going back to your home country not a new place - what were you expecting ?
I would not agree on the point that the Prabhu family goofed up by not carrying the proper documents and than having to drop the blame on the officer - if you had some how sneaked into a flight boarding for Boston without a US visa - what kinda treatment are you expecting at the Boston Logan Airport ? .
Its a human to make a mistake and try to minimize that fault by dropping part of the blame on some other person. In the end Prabhu family screwed up and so they had to pay the price for it.
The officer could have shown some Leniency, but he probably went by the books, by claiming that you saw such inhuman behavior etc etc - when any human is on the wrong side one always thinks of falling back on someone for his own mistakes.
I would say - just forget about the story as a bad dream and take rest.
