15-yr-old boy is victim of moral policing; thrashed, arrested in MP

NewsBits.in

Correspondent

BHOPAL: A 15-year-old boy, a class 9 student, is the latest victim of moral policing in Madhya Pradesh.

The minor was publicly beaten mercilessly and dumped in an unconscious state at the police station, after he was seen talking to a girl, also a minor. The assault allegedly happened in presence of two policemen,

The assailants are members of Bajrang Dal, a rightwing organization, sources said.

The incident occurred in Salamatpur town in Raisen district, near Bhopal. The boy belongs to a minority community, while the girl is a dalit, reports said.

The teenager was beaten up after a right-wing activist saw the boy talking to a girl. Alleging that the boy was planning to escape with the girl on a motorcycle, they assaulted him and beat him up black and blue.

The assailants also filed police complaint against the boy, following which he was arrested and has been sent to remand home in Bhopal. The boy however claimed that he was merely talking to the girl, who is his friend.

Case under sections 354, relevant sections of Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Atrocities against SC/ST Act were registered against the teenager. In police records, the age of the boy has been shown as 16, though his kin have claimed that he has just turned 15.

Since the boy was badly beaten up and that too in presence of policemen, tension erupted in the town after the incident.

Later, on the instructions of Superintendent of Police, Deepak Verma, the Salamatpur police registered a case against three Bajrang Dal members – Gopal Rathod, Anup Agrawal and Sanjeev Shejwar. They were booked under sections 323, 294, 506 and 34 IPC, but are yet to be arrested.