A visually impaired minor boy had to run from pillar to post for nearly two months in Andhra Pradesh after the police in Kurnool district booked him for violating the COVID-19 lockdown.
The 17-year-old and his younger brother said that they were trying to get the case dropped for several weeks. Though the incident occurred on April 4, it came to light on Friday after the 17-year-old met officials to request them to get the case withdrawn.
A student of Class 11, the minor, along with his brother, was standing at a shop in Gonegandla to get photocopies of some documents to apply for a financial scheme of the government.
The boy told local reporters that the police arrived there and registered a case against them, the shop owner and two others under Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
"The police seized our mobile phones and asked us to report to the police station the next day. When we went there, they returned the phones but did not pay heed to our request to annul the case. They asked us to approach the court for the same," he said.
Since then, he has been making rounds of various offices and requesting officials to get the case dropped. He is worried that the police case may mar his prospects of getting a job in future.
A student of a junior college in Kurnool, the visually impaired teenager had come to his home town in Gonegandla due to the lockdown.
The local police said that when the case was registered, they did not know that he was visually challenged.
After the incident was brought to his notice, Kurnool District Superintendent of Police K Fakkeerappa said an inquiry has begun into the incident and action will be taken against the policemen if they are found to be at fault.