"gave electric shocks and burned me with cigarette butts."
A police case was registered against seven men in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, after they brutally tortured a 12-year-old Indian boy. They had also held five members of his family captive.
The family of six, which included an 18-month-old baby, were held in a small room for nearly 36 hours after it was suspected that they stole jewellery.
The accused assaulted members of the family, including the boy, who was allegedly the prime accused.
Police identified the boy as Amir Khan. He received electric shocks, burned with cigarette butts, kicked in the stomach and punched in the face multiple times.
Whilst confined, the family was not even provided with food or water.
Amir suffered bruises on his face and over his body. His back was also covered in burn marks.
Police rescued him and his family on June 14, 2020. They found the Indian boy shaking in fear.
The family members were identified as Nizam, his wife Mubina, elder son Sonu, daughter-in-law Ruksana and 18-month-old Hassan.
The accused were arrested and were identified as Abrar, Mohsin, Zubair, Nadeem, Shyama. Two other men have not been identified.
The Indian boy said: “On Friday afternoon, Abrar took me to the third floor of his house and brutally assaulted me after confining me in a room.
“He rained lashes, kicked me in the stomach, punched me in the face, gave electric shocks and burned me with cigarette butts.
“He wanted to know the whereabouts of stolen jewellery, for which I had no idea. He was accusing me for the theft.”
Amir’s father Nizam said: “When Aamir did not return home by 7:30 pm on Friday, I called him, but there was no response.
“Later at around 8 pm, Abrar along with another man came to my house and searched the entire home.
“Following which, he asked me and my wife Mubina to come along with him at his house.”
When they reached the house, Nizam and Mubina were assaulted and forced into a room.
Nizam added: “When my elder son Sonu came to inquire about us, he too was dragged inside the room of the third floor and assaulted.
“However, he managed to escape and jumped off the roof to call for help, but was caught by Abrar and his men.”
“Abrar then called my daughter-in-law Ruksana and her son Samir (8), on the pretext of fetching help to admit Sonu in hospital, but instead he confined Ruksana and her 18-month-old son Hassan too with us. Samir managed to flee.”
Samir contacted relatives in Tajganj who then alerted the police.
After being rescued, the victims were brought to Shahganj Police Station, however, no FIR was lodged. SHO Satyendra Singh Raghav also freed the accused.
Mubina explained: “The police took Rs. 50,000 (£520) and let Abrar and his men go away.
“We sat for the entire day at the police station, but they did not even provide us with medical aid.”
SHO Raghav said: “The family was illiterate and did not know how to write a complaint. Therefore, the FIR could not be filed on Sunday but the same was filed on Monday with the help of local residents.”
Police Superintendent Rohan Botre said: “The SHO did not file FIR on Sunday, therefore I had to intervene and reprimand him for his unprofessional conduct and asked him to file FIR on Monday.
“A detailed investigation will be carried out in the entire matter.”
On June 16, four of the accused were arrested. Police are currently working to arrest the other three men.
Loading ...