Mother of man assaulted by cops over national anthem during Delhi riots moves HC

Justice Suresh Kumar Kait issued notice to Delhi Police and asked it to file a status report on the plea by the mother of the man, Faizan, who along with four other Muslim men were seen in a video being allegedly assaulted by police officers and asked to sing the national anthem.

The Delhi high court on Thursday sought response of the city police on a plea seeking a probe by a special investigation team (SIT) into the death of a man who was allegedly beaten up by police officers and forced to sing the national anthem during the riots in the national capital in February.

Justice Suresh Kumar Kait issued notice to Delhi Police and asked it to file a status report on the plea by the mother of the man, Faizan, who along with four other Muslim men were seen in a video being allegedly assaulted by police officers and asked to sing the national anthem.

In her plea, filed through advocates Vrinda Grover and Soutik Banerjee, Faizan’s mother, Kismatun, told the court that he died on February 26 after being allegedly brutally assaulted by police officers and detained from February 24 to February 25.

The petition sought the constitution of a court monitored SIT to conduct a fair and impartial investigation into the custodial death of Faizan. It has contended that there are shortcomings in the investigation being carried out by the crime branch as even after 10 months have lapsed since the incident, there has been “no progress”.

The petition has also sought directions to Delhi Police to file an affidavit with relevant material regarding the functioning of the CCTV cameras at the Jyoti Nagar police station where Faizan was detained in February, especially between February 24 and February 25.

The matter would be now heard on February 1, 2021.