By BISMEE TASKIN / The Print
Kannauj: Sitting on a worn-out cot outside his house in Madaiya West village in UP’s Kannauj district, Jahangir (he doesn’t use a last name) weeps, wiping his tears with his one good hand — he lost the other in an accident. His 15-year-old son, Dilshan alias Raja, he says, died Monday due to internal injuries caused by a beating. He says he doesn’t “trust” the police or the autopsy report, according to which Dilshan succumbed to an illness.
According to Jahangir and his wife Shabana Begum, Dilshan had visited a private school called RS Intermediary College Saturday in the hopes of getting admission to Class 9. It’s unclear exactly what transpired next, but Dilshan and two other boys were accused of stealing a watch and were allegedly beaten by two teachers, Prabhakar Kumar and Vivek Yadav, and the school principal, Shiv Kumar.
“He and two others were caught by the teachers. They had done some mischief with a watch. The teachers, including the principal Shiv Kumar, hit them. While they let the other two go, they took my son in and kept beating him,” Shabana said, distraught.
The family alleges that Dilshan was in pain when he returned and he was in critical condition by Saturday night. He was admitted to a hospital, but died Monday night.
The police, however, claim that Dilshan died of an untreated illness, pointing to the findings of an autopsy conducted Tuesday. No FIR has been filed yet.
“The allegations of torture have been found to be untrue,” Kannauj Superintendent of Police (SP) Anupam Singh told ThePrint. “No injuries have been found on the body. The cause of death is chronic lung disease. Action will be taken on the basis of evidence.”
ThePrint has seen a copy of the autopsy report, where the cause of death is listed as cardiorespiratory failure and chronic lung disorder. The report also said that there were no injuries on the body but that the child’s liver and kidneys were “congested”.
Dilshan’s family has contested these findings and demanded another autopsy. Jahangir told ThePrint that his son wasn’t sick and “regularly worked in the fields with no sign of distress”.
“Even if we agree he was ill, why would he collapse on the same day that he was beaten up and die two days later?” he asked.
He also alleged that the police aren’t investigating the matter properly and are “threatening” the family.
This story was originally published in theprint.in . Read the full story here
