A 15-year-old Muslim student in Aligarh was allegedly assaulted and forced to urinate on a Pakistan flag by a group of men after he picked up the flag that they had kept on the road during a protest against the Pahalgam terror attack, on Monday, police said. Text under the flag read “Pakistan murdabad”.
The incident took place when the class 9 boy was returning home from school, the police said. In a video purportedly recorded during the incident, the boy can be seen surrounded by men who are asking him to raise slogans of “Hindustan Zindabad” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai”. The protesters are also seen pushing him and using abusive language. In another video, he can be seen putting the flag back on the road and then urinating on it.
According to Pankaj Kumar Misra, SHO, Banna Devi police station, while the boy was on his way home from school with his friends, he picked up the flag from the middle of the road. “The group of protestors asked him to put the flag back. They then allegedly asked him what he can do in solidarity with the protest and told him to urinate on the flag,” he said.
“We’ve taken cognisance of the matter. We have reached out to the family and asked them to file a complaint,” Misra said, adding that action will be taken based on the complaint. Aligarh Circle Officer Rajiv Dwivedi said the police have launched an investigation into the matter. “We have not yet received any written complaint from the boy’s family.
The incident occurred between 11:00 am to 11:30 am on Monday when a few school children were returning home from the school while a protest against the Pahalgam terror attack was going on,” Dwivedi said.
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