A 13-YEAR-OLD boy from a locality in Muzaffarnagar has lost vision in his left eye after being beaten up while in police detention, his family alleged on Friday. While the police claimed that the boy had a pre-existing eye condition, the minor’s family has complained to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), and multiple district authorities. According to the boy’s father, the family owns a chicken shop in a village, which had been shut for the past 10 days. “On September 27, we reopened the shop. My son went to the mosque near our shop and announced that our shop has reopened and that chicken would now be available at prices that are cheaper than usual at Rs 140 per kg due to lesser demand during Navratri. Someone from the neighbourhood complained about this announcement. Soon after, while he was travelling around the village, a police van came and picked him up. We were informed by neighbours who saw him being taken away,” the father told The Indian Express. CCTV footage from the area purportedly shows the boy being taken away in a police car. The father said that when he reached the police outpost, he saw that the 13-year-old had been put behind bars and both his feet were tied. “When we asked the police about the matter, they told us it was a small issue, asked us to come back after 12, and assured us that we could take our son back after that,” he said. He said he waited outside the police outpost for two hours. “When I returned, I was told I had been fined under Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and saw that my son had bruises all over his body. He complained that he could not see clearly anymore,” he alleged. The father further claimed that police have accused him of owning a country-made pistol after finding an image of one on the boy’s phone. “It was just a picture he had saved from the Internet. We don’t own any pistols. But I was fined for possessing one. Police claimed my son had accepted under questioning that the weapon belonged to me. Later, my son said he had been beaten and videographed until he agreed to their version,” the father said. Following the alleged assault, the family took the boy to a community health centre in Muzaffarnagar. Medical records from the centre note diminished vision in one eye due to “trauma caused an hour ago”. The boy has since been referred to a hospital in Meerut for surgery. In a written complaint to the National Commission For Protection of Child Rights, the National Human Rights Commission of India, the district child welfare committee and the Muzaffarnagar Superintendent of Police (SP), the father alleged that his son was “abducted” and “severely beaten” at the Biralsi police outpost. The complaint states: “My son was locked in the outpost, beaten severely, causing a serious eye injury, and is now undergoing treatment… The Inspector is threatening to send me to jail if we pursue action.” Responding to the allegations, Muzaffarnagar SP Sanjai Kumar said: “The matter has been highlighted to us. The boy had made an announcement regarding chicken in the mosque, which hurt local sentiments. The family has alleged that he lost his vision, but our preliminary investigation suggests that he had a previous eye condition for which he had been receiving treatment for the past four years. We are looking into the matter.” The SHO of the area concerned said a fine had been imposed on the boy’s father “to maintain peace in the area” under Section 173 of the BNSS.
