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Ludhiana: Child rights panel asks police to file attempt to murder case
The intention behind the assault, as observed by the commission, was to kill the victim, prompting it to pass the direction to the police
The Punjab Commission for Protection of Child Rights has asked the Ludhiana rural police to file an attempt to murder case against a gurdwara head and his aides for allegedly assaulting a minor volunteer at the Sikh shrine last week.
Kanwardeep Singh, chairman of the commission, directed the police to include section 307 (attempt to murder) in the First Information Report (FIR) lodged against the accused after watching a purported video where the 17-year-old boy is seen getting beaten the culprits after they suspected him of stealing a mobile phone and a gold chain.
The intention behind the assault, as observed by the commission, was to kill the victim, prompting it to pass the direction to the police.
Earlier this week, sub-inspector Kuldeep Kumar from Hathur police station appeared before the commission and informed them that the accused, including gurdwara head Surinder Singh and six other individuals - Babbal Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Harman Singh, Shamsher Singh, Gurjit Singh, and Daljit Singh, had been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 355 (assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour a person), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult religion), 506 (criminal intimidation), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object).
The Sub-Inspector added that police had already added sections 75 and 82 of the Juvenile Justice Act and Section 66 of the IT Act in the FIR.
However, sub-inspector Surjit Singh, Station House Officer (SHO) at Hathur police station, stated that they had not yet received any orders from the Punjab Commission for Protection of Child Rights regarding the addition of Section 307 (attempt to murder) in the FIR. He assured that the section would be included once they received the orders.
SHO Surjit Singh confirmed that all accused individuals have been arrested and sent to jail on judicial remand. Once the Section 307 of the IPC is added to the FIR, the police will bring the accused from jail on a production warrant.
The child rights panel took suo moto action on seeing the viral video of the minor boy being thrashed by the gurdwara head in Kamalpura village of Raikot. They promptly ordered the Ludhiana rural police to thoroughly investigate the matter and have the investigating officer present the details of the investigation before the commission on September 27.
The assault took place on September 18, when the head of a local gurdwara in Raikot, along with his aides, allegedly held a 17-year-old volunteer captive and assaulted him for four hours, accusing him of theft.
