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Journalism of Courage
In a heated exchange that has gone viral, an administrative official in Delhi is seen asking the family of an 11-year-old boy who died in an accident to “shut up” as they protested seeking action over the incident.
Anurag Bharadwaj died on Wednesday after he peeped out of the school bus window and his head hit a pole. Later, angry parents and family reached Dayawati Public School and raised a protest against the school authorities for negligence. A case of murder has been filed against the school authorities and the bus driver and conductor have been arrested.
“We came to know that the principal has been taken to Niwari police station which does not fall in the (proper) jurisdiction. When we reached, we saw no one there. It was later informed that he had been let go after questioning. Then we sat down on the road to protest the action against them because he died due to negligence,” said Preeti Bharadwaj, Anurag’s aunt.
As the family began protesting near Hapur road, senior officials, including Modinagar SDM Shubhangi Shukla, reached the spot to pacify them. In the video, the victim’s mother Neha Sharma can be heard repeatedly saying, “Catch those three people,” referring to the school authorities. The SDM then tells her to “understand” what the officials were saying. As the mother repeats her demands, the SDM asks her to “shut up (chup ho jaiye)” multiple times and says, “I have been trying to explain to you for so long, you are not understanding.”
“The language used by the official was no doubt rude, but people must see where we come from. We lost a child in our family. We have to protest. Later on, we met the police and administration officials who gave us in writing that action will be taken,” Preeti added.
The SDM could not be reached for comment.
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