By Scroll Staff
The Udaipur Municipal Corporation on Saturday demolished the rented home of a 15-year-old Muslim boy accused of stabbing his Hindu classmate, on the grounds that the structure was illegally built on land belonging to the forest department, reported The Hindu.
“The owner was not able to provide any form of ownership document, after which the house was demolished,” Udaipur Inspector General Ajay Lamba told The Indian Express.
Lamba added that the minor and his father have been detained and that further action would be taken in accordance with the Juvenile Justice Act. It is unclear what specific charges have been invoked against the parent.
In recent years, there has been a growing trend of civic authorities in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states summarily demolishing purportedly illegal properties of those accused of crime, mostly Muslims.
There are no provisions in Indian law that allow for such punitive demolitions.
In a video that circulated online after the demolition, the owner of the house, Rashid Khan, can be seen saying: “The family of the boy who was involved is now living at their relative’s place. Why is the administration demolishing my house? I went to the municipal corporation but everyone is on leave. I went to the police station but they refused to stop the demolition. This is an injustice towards me. I have lost my house without any fault of mine.”
Khan also says in the video that four other families who were living in the house had been asked to vacate.
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