Muslim schoolboys brutally beaten by Hindu men; Police accused of downplaying communal angle
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Latur Police in Maharashtra reportedly failed in their duty by not immediately registering an FIR against a group of men who brutally assaulted three Muslim schoolboys, aged between 13 and 15, tying them to a pole and beating them with belts, electric wires and pipes after accusing them of stealing electric wire.
Instead, the police initially registered an FIR against the victims before public outrage forced them to act against the alleged attackers. The victims' parents also alleged that the police attempted to persuade them to suppress the communal angle of the incident.
The incident occurred on July 10 in Kharola village of Renapur taluka in Maharashtra's Latur district. According to The Wire, the three schoolboys were allegedly tied to a pole and repeatedly beaten with belts, electric wires and pipes by a group of Maratha men. A video of the assault, reportedly filmed by one of the attackers on a mobile phone, was later circulated widely on social media, triggering widespread condemnation.
The father of one of the victims said that he and the parents of the other boys rushed to the scene after learning of the assault. They alleged that when they attempted to rescue their children, the attackers abused and threatened them, forcing them to seek help from a police station around seven kilometres away. Police subsequently arrived at the spot and rescued the boys, who were later admitted to the hospital with severe bruises across their bodies.
Despite police officers reportedly witnessing the aftermath of the attack, an FIR was not immediately registered against the alleged assailants. Instead, at around 10 p.m. on the same day, one of the principal accused, Sachin Rautrao, lodged a complaint accusing the boys of theft. Police recorded his complaint first before later registering an FIR based on a complaint filed by one of the victims' parents.
More than ten hours reportedly elapsed before the case against the attackers was filed, during which two of the accused allegedly absconded.
Initially, only two accused were named in the victims' FIR, but six others were subsequently added. While six men were arrested, produced before a magistrate and granted bail after two days, two alleged prime accused remained untraceable during the initial investigation.
Police have maintained that the incident bore no communal motive. However, the victims' families alleged that the attackers hurled communal and casteist slurs during the assault. One parent further claimed that officers advised them not to mention the boys' Muslim identity in connection with the case.