Mohammad Rizwan, a teenager hailing from Uttar Pradesh, died on Saturday, 18 April, after he was allegedly beaten up by the police while trying to buy food, The Telegraph reported.
Rizwan’s father, Mohammad Israil, said that his son was very hungry on Thursday night and had thus stepped out to buy food. “My son went out to buy biscuits because he was really hungry. However, the cops thrashed and injured him very badly”, Israil told reporters.
Villagers at Chhajjapur in Ambedkar Nagar also alleged that the cops had selectively targeted Rizwan citing lockdown restrictions when there were other people also at the grocery store.
“There were quite a few other customers at the grocery store, but they weren’t stopped by the cops. Some of the people present there claimed that the police beat Rizwan with batons and rifle butts”, said the boy’s uncle Munna.
Munna also added that panic-buying by most people from the village had resulted in a grave shortage of basic food supplies, thereby forcing quite a few families to go without meals. Among them was Rizwan’s family.
Police Deny Beating Claim
The police, however, has denied the claims and said that the boy was already injured after a bike accident and the post-mortem report suggests other infections.
“Whatever proofs we have got, including CCTV cameras, statement of the local doctors have been examined. His post-mortem report is also out and the his body does not have any marks of being thrashed by lathis. According to the report, his lungs and heart were infected. He had also fallen off a motocycle and those injuries were there on his body,” an official was quoted as saying.
(With inputs from The Telegraph)
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