E-Paper
AltNews co-founder booked for revealing identity of UP student involved in Muzaffarnagar incident
On Saturday, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) urged people not to reveal the identity of a boy by sharing the video.
A first information report (FIR) was registered against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair on Monday for allegedly revealing the identity of an eight-year-old Muslim student, who was slapped by his classmates allegedly at the behest of his teacher in a private school in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar on August 25, police said.
Muzaffarnagar superintendent of police (city) Satyanarayan said the case was filed at Mansoorpur police station on the basis of a complaint by an individual named Vishnu Dutt, a resident of Khubbapur village, where the incident took place. Dutt alleged that Zubair disclosed the identity of the boy by sharing a video of the incident on social media, Satyanarayan said. “A probe is underway to verify the allegation,” he added.
The SP said Zubair was booked under section 74 (prohibits disclosure of identity of child victims) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. HT has seen a copy of the FIR.
HT reached out to Zubair for a comment but did not get one immediately.
Police have started an inquiry into the incident wherein the teacher, identified as Tripta Tyagi, encouraged some young students to slap the Class 2 student for not learning multiplication tables, while declaring that children of a certain faith whose parents do not pay attention to their education should be taught a lesson. A 39-second clip of the incident sparked nationwide outrage.
A case has been registered against Tyagi under sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of Indian Penal Code on the basis of a complaint by the boy’s family.
In her defence, Tyagi said the video was tampered with, claimed that it was shot by the student’s uncle, and offered to justify her alleged actions by saying she was disabled.
On Saturday, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) urged people not to reveal the identity of a boy by sharing the video. “Taking cognisance, instructions are being issued for action, everyone is requested not to share the video of the child, give information about such incidents by e-mail, do not become a part of the crime by revealing the identity of the children,” NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo posted on X.
