Uttar Pradesh: A 16-year-old Dalit boy was found hanging in a juvenile home washroom On Monday, in the Bulandshahr district in Uttar Pradesh. Before his death, his family claims that he was mercilessly beaten up by upper caste inmates of the juvenile facility.
As per the complaint filed by the father of the boy, ‘On Monday, around 5 pm, I got a call telling me my son had hanged himself. But I am certain he was murdered.’ He further stated: ‘I had met him two days before that and he said he was in deep pain. He was crying and asking me to get him out because inmates, in collusion with juvenile home staffers, would thrash him brutally. He had told me they broke his rib and he found it difficult to breathe. His hip bone had also been injured. What could I do? I told him I was trying hard to get him out. Now, he’s dead.’
The 16-year-old was arrested for allegedly ‘kidnapping’ an upper-caste girl with whom he had eloped. On July 30, he was sent to a juvenile detention centre. The boy’s uncle said that he had fallen in love with a higher caste girl of the same age who resided in a house in Amroha on the floor above them. The two adolescents stayed in touch after the upper caste family moved away. ‘The girl asked our boy to meet her and take her away. He made the mistake of eloping with her. The girl’s family filed a police complaint and he was held,’ the uncle was quoted saying in media reports.
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According to his relatives, he was beaten up in the juvenile home on a daily basis by upper caste inmates for having ‘dared to’ elope with an upper-caste woman. They also allegedly threw caste insults at him. His father said that he had asked the personnel at the juvenile home to assist his son whenever he came to visit. When the kid’s relatives sought to protest about the treatment he was receiving, the boy was allegedly beaten up even more.
The youngster, along with four others, attempted to flee the juvenile home in mid-August. This is because he was ‘constantly tormented,’ his father added. He also filed a formal application with the court, seeking protection for his son.
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An FIR has been filed against eight persons, including five prisoners, the girl’s parents, and her uncle, based on the father’s police complaint. Murder, criminal conspiracy, and provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act are among the allegations.
Due to the nature of the ‘offence’ for which the 16-year-old had been detained in the first place, the boy’s family believes that the girl’s parents and uncle may have had something to do with the violence meted out to him. As per district probation officer Nagender Pal Singh, a high-level probe has been ordered in the case.
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