Reflection of Muslim persecution in UP: Boy loses eyesight in police custody

The case of a 13-year-old Muslim boy who was taken into custody and beaten in Muzaffarnagar, leading to the loss of vision in his left eye, reflects the UP Police’s insensitive and divisive approach towards Muslims, as not even a minor boy was spared from being implicated in a false case, whereupon his father complained to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), and multiple district authorities.

Quoting the boy’s father, The Indian Express reported that he was picked up by police after making an announcement in a local mosque about the reopening of the family’s chicken shop, which had been closed for several days due to low demand during Navratri, while the announcement that chicken would be sold at reduced prices reportedly angered some residents who then complained to the police.

CCTV footage from the locality is said to show the minor being taken away in a police vehicle, and the family has claimed that this was the start of an ordeal that left the child with serious injuries and lasting damage to his vision.

The family reached the police outpost and saw the child confined behind bars with his feet tied, and they were initially told it was a minor matter and that the boy would be released later, but when they returned, they found him bruised and complaining of loss of sight.

The father was fined under Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and he alleged that this fine was imposed while the child was beaten inside custody, which created a situation where punishment was meted out without justification.

The police accused the family of possessing a country-made pistol after discovering an image on the boy’s phone, and they claimed that the minor had confessed that the weapon belonged to his father, but the family argued that the picture was merely downloaded from the internet and that no such weapon ever existed.

The boy later stated that he had been beaten and videotaped until he repeated the version police wanted, and the father contended that this coerced statement was then used to falsely implicate him.

The family rushed the child to a community health centre where doctors noted diminished vision in one eye caused by trauma an hour earlier, and the boy was then referred to a hospital in Meerut for urgent surgery, while his condition remains under close medical observation.

A written complaint was filed with the NHRC, the NCPCR, the Muzaffarnagar Superintendent of Police, and the district child welfare committee, and the family alleged that their child was abducted, locked in an outpost, and brutally beaten, while they also claimed that threats of jail were issued to prevent them from pursuing action.

The police insisted that the boy had been suffering from a pre-existing eye condition for the past four years, and they suggested that the loss of vision could be linked to that history, while they also justified the fine imposed on the father as a measure to maintain peace in the area after the mosque announcement was deemed provocative.