Muslim minors detained in a juvenile correction home in Ramnagar, Uttar Pradesh, have described inhumane treatment and anti-Muslim abuse at the hands of authorities, raising serious concerns about the bias faced by young detainees from the minority community.
The minors, arrested in connection with a stone-pelting incident in Varanasi’s Kotwa village, allege they were subjected to forced labor, derogatory slurs, and even physical assault while in custody.
A fact-finding team from the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) met the minors following their release and documented their harrowing experiences.
According to the children and their families, the police conducted a midnight raid, forcibly taking them away as if they were hardened criminals. Inside the juvenile facility, the discrimination was blatant—only Muslim children were made to clean floors and perform menial tasks.
They were mocked with Islamophobic slurs like “mullah,” “kattmullah,” and “Pakistani.”
“According to them (children), the authorities at the facility, influenced by communal bias, treated them unfairly. Only Muslim children were made to clean floors and perform menial labor. They were insulted with derogatory terms like ‘mullah’ ‘kattmullah’ and ‘Pakistani’. Additionally, at the police station, when some of the children asked to use the restroom, they were beaten, and some were even assaulted with batons,” read APCR report.
Some of them were beaten with batons when they requested to use the restroom, APCR reported.
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