The parents of a nine-year-old boy in Bengaluru have sought protection for their son, who is the sole witness to the alleged killing of his 12-year-old brother. The family has also alleged that the police and other authorities, instead of aiding them in seeking justice for their son, have been harassing them by calling them “Bangladeshi”.
Thirty-nine-year-old Noor Bakhtiyar Miyah filed a complaint with the Karnataka State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) and the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission on Tuesday, June 16.
In the complaint, Noor Bakhtiyar alleged that his landlord and neighbour Syed Imran Ali had killed his 12-year-old son Ariful Islam and that his younger son Shariful Islam witnessed the murder. Noor Bakhtiyar said he moved from Jordanga in Dhubri district in Assam to Bengaluru in April this year to earn a livelihood by segregating garbage in Yelahanka.
Noor Bakhtiyar alleged that Syed Imran had asked Ariful to clean the water tank on June 4 when he and Shariful were playing.
“Ariful refused… The accused (then) forced him into the tank and switched on the pump. The accused then mercilessly closed the lid of the tank out of spite,” Noor said in the complaint.
He said that it was impossible for the child to have fallen into the tank as it was very small.
“We believe the child died immediately because of the electric current passing through the water, and the child’s body rose in the water face down. Our son, Shariful, witnessed the entire incident. He came running to us, shouting that his brother was being killed. We assumed Ariful was being beaten up, but when we rushed to the spot, we realised the child was dead. When we reached the spot near the tank, there was a crowd around it…The sight we saw shocked us, our son was floating face down in the tank,” Noor said, adding that the incident occurred between 1 pm and 3 pm.
The family rushed the boy to a nearby clinic to treat him, where they declared him dead. They were then forced to go to two more hospitals, Yelahanka government hospital and BR Ambedkar Hospital, which called the police.
“When the (Bagalur) police arrived at the hospital, they called us “Bangladeshi” and “illegal immigrants” and refused to cooperate with us. They used abusive language and threatened us with dire consequences and asked us to not pursue this case further. They further asked us to complete the burial immediately,” Noor said.
That evening, when the police were conducting the mahazar (spot inventory), they allegedly punched Noor’s brother-in-law Apis Islam who was recording the proceedings on his phone and called him “Bangladeshi”.
When they went to the police station around 9 pm to file the complaint, they were in for more abuse, according to the complaint. The police eventually registered an FIR, but also invoked the Child Labour Prohibition Act. Noor alleged that they were not given a copy of the FIR.
A copy of the FIR is to be given to a complainant mandatorily and free of charge.
The FIR names three persons Syed Imran Ali, Ghousiya Praveen and Saniya Ali, who have been charged under Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) related to causing death by negligence and Section 14 of the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, which has penalties for illegal employment of children.
Noor also alleged that the family was not given a copy of the post-mortem report by the hospital.
The family buried Ariful Islam the next day at the Khuddus Sahib Muslim Burial Ground on Nandidurga Road. When they returned home after the burial, goons allegedly barged into their house and threatened them.
“They threatened us and said that we had to stay and work in the settlement and asked us to finish the case off here itself. They also offered us money to settle the case. The contractor also encouraged them to take this bribe. They threatened and asked for the medical and police records we received. They also tried to take our thumbprints on some papers, but we refused. We refused to sign anything or to give any documents,” Noor said in the complaint.
Although Noor called the police for protection, the police were unhelpful. Afraid of the goons, the family moved to Electronics City.
Noor urged both the child rights commission and human rights commission to intervene, seeking protection for his younger son Shariful, who was the sole witness of the alleged murder.
“He is the sole eye witness of the incident and is currently under severe mental and physical trauma. He is unable to eat or sleep properly. I’m also fearful for my son’s safety in the given circumstances,” Noor said in his representation.
He also urged the commissions to direct the police to give the family protection.
He also alleged that the police had wrongfully invoked the Child Labour prohibition law.
“We have never made our child work, and in an attempt to get away with their duty, the police has painted the picture of death during child labour, which is untrue. The Police have failed to factor the power dynamic between us and the accused. The police also failed to factor in that my son was forced to perform labour which he refused and resisted, which angered the accused into retaliating with violence, which led to the death of my son, in front of my younger son Shariful,” Noor said.
