FIR lodged in Nuh boy captivity case after Bihar govt steps in

The FIR, lodged late Sunday night at the Government Railway Police (GRP) station in Bahadurgarh, came after the Bihar government intervened following HT’s report

Nearly two weeks after a 15-year-old boy from Bihar was rescued in Nuh with his left forearm severed, police have registered an FIR against a man, his wife and his brother for allegedly keeping him in captivity, denying regular food, assault, using him as forced labour and abandoning him after the accident.

The father alleged in the FIR that he had travelled to Kangra in Himachal Pradesh to bring his son home via train as the boy wanted to return from work there (File photo)

The FIR, lodged late Sunday night at the Government Railway Police (GRP) station in Bahadurgarh, came after the Bihar government intervened following HT’s report. On Friday, Bihar’s labour resources department secretary Deepak Anand took cognizance of the matter immediately after which joint labour commissioner Kumar Digvijay posted at Bihar Bhawan in Delhi wrote to the Nuh deputy commissioner and superintendent of police, urging immediate financial assistance to the boy for basic needs and medical treatment, his safe repatriation to hometown Kishanganj and legal action against the culprits involved in his trafficking.

Police said the FIR against the trio was registered under sections 118(2)(voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 127(4) (wrongful confinement for 10 or more days), 137 (kidnapping), 146 (unlawful compulsory labour), 289 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery), 3(5) (common intention) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

Inspector Satya Prakash, station house officer (SHO) of Bahadurgarh GRP, said he visited PGIMS Rohtak on Sunday, where the boy is undergoing treatment, and recorded his father Bhimlal Rishidev’s statement. “He was assaulted, kept captive and hungry at a dairy farm having 30–40 cattle. The boy was taken by the prime accused Anil after being picked up from Bahadurgarh railway station. It took almost 30 minutes for Anil and the boy to reach the farm on a motorcycle,” he said.

The father alleged in the FIR that he had travelled to Kangra in Himachal Pradesh to bring his son home via train as the boy wanted to return from work there. While returning to Kishanganj, the train halted at Bahadurgarh railway station in late May. The boy got off to drink water but missed boarding.

According to the FIR, a man spotted the boy at the station and questioned him. After learning he had missed his train and had no money, the man contacted Anil, who took the boy to his dairy farm. The father alleged that for almost two months, Anil and his family kept his son captive, forced him to work without food, beat him if he refused, prevented him from contacting family, and did not allow him to wear slippers.

Rishidev claimed that on the day his son’s forearm was severed in a motorised fodder chopping machine in the last week of July, Anil had forced him to work. “After getting maimed, Anil himself bandaged the stump at his home,” he alleged. “When the bleeding didn’t stop, my son tore his t-shirt using his teeth and tied it around the wound. He begged for water from Anil, his wife and his brother, but none gave it to him.”

The father alleged Anil later abandoned the boy by the roadside. The boy began walking barefooted and was spotted in the rain on July 29 atop Panchgaon hill on Tauru–Nuh Road by government teachers Arvind Kumar and Rakesh, who found him bleeding and barely clad. When asked where he was going, the boy replied “Bihar” which had left the teachers stunned and they took him to Nuh Sadar police station, where ASI Kamal Singh contacted Kishanganj police to trace his family.

Police initially suspected the boy was held captive in Jind, from where he may have walked about 150km to Tauru. The exact location is still unverified.

Bihar labour secretary Deepak Anand said, “After treatment, we will bring him home and help in his rehabilitation. We are keeping a constant tab on the developments taking place in the case”