UP: Three Minors Including A 12-Yr-Old Spent 3 Months In Jail For Cow Slaughter

At Islam Nagar in Khatauli, Uttar Pradesh, the Naseer house seems forlorn. Three months ago, police arrested seven members of the family. Out of them, three were minors.

On December 29, after getting some information about cow slaughter in “Wakeel’s Dairy”, police entered the dairy in Islam Nagar, Khatauli. Seven members of the Naseer family — three daughters-in-law, three grandchildren and a distant relative were arrested by the police for cow slaughter and attempting to murder a policeman at the site.

Mohammad Naseer, Wakeel’s brother, while speaking to ChalChitra Abhiyan says, “Four people were involved in the cow slaughter. When the police arrived, those people fled. When the police failed to catch them, they went to my brother’s house.”

His brother, a lawyer, has two wives, a son and an eight-month-old baby. He says, “Four of them, including the minors, were arrested.” “Then they went to the next house which belongs to another of my brother. From there, they arrested his wife and two daughters,” said Mohammad. Both the daughters are minors.

When the neighbours after seeing the commotion asked the policemen what was going on, they were arrested too.

Shahjahana, Wakeel’s mother, says, “They came and slapped my daughters-in-law when they saw that there was no man in the house.”

Police account

Police reports tell a different story altogether. According to them, suspecting a cow slaughter, they forcibly entered “Waqeel’s Dairy” and found “a group of men and women” slaughtering two cows. They attacked a policeman with knives and screwdriver. While nine of them were arrested, four of them fled the scene.

Among those arrested were Naseer’s sisters-in-law Reshma (30), Shahzadi (31) and Afsana (35) and their children, two girls and a boy. Police records say the grandson was 21, and granddaughters 21 and 19 years old. Their Aadhaar cards tell a different story. The boy is of 14 years and the two daughters are 16 and 12. They have been in jail for the last three months.

Two FIRs were filed based on complaints registered by Khatauli Station House in-charge in the case. The charge sheet lists 17 witnesses who are all police personnel attached to Khatauli police station.

On March 27, the two daughters were granted bail.

The Logical Indian contacted the Khatauli police station and the SHO A P Bhardwaj said “The stories about the girls being minor is all fake. The boy is also not minor. Yes, Aadhaar cards show otherwise but nowadays they can be duplicated and false information can also be added. The case has been going on for three months now. If they were minors then they should have told so when they were first brought to the police station, but they did not. They said they were 20 and 19. If they were minors we would have sent them to a juvenile home.”

He has also denied that the eight-month-old child being arrested and taken along with his mother to the police station.

Although the girls have been granted bail, the boy remains incarcerated. Khatauli Station House Officer (SHO) Ambika Prasad told The Indian Express that the women claimed to be 20 and 19 years old, but police records show that their age has been recorded as 21 and 19. The police are contradicting their own statements. If the kids are minor and the women not guilty of the crime, it is a matter of grave injustice. A proper investigation should be conducted and the innocent should be set free.