Five arrested for assaulting boy who refused to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'

Police today arrested five youths who allegedly beat up and fractured the arm of an 18-year-old boy after forcing him to chant "Jai Mata Ki" at a park in outer Delhi's Begumpur area. The accused have been identified as Aditya, Sagar, Karamjit, Sachit and Anshu, all aged between 20 and 25 years. They have been booked under IPC Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation), DCP (Outer) Vikramjit Singh said. The police maintained that there were inconsistencies in the statements of the complainant and they had to wait for a medical opinion on his X-ray reports before registering a case. Nowhere in the police complaint has the boy mentioned about being forced to say "Bharat Mata ki Jai". In his complaint, the victim, Mohammad Dilkash, told police that the incident took place on March 26 when he was sitting in a park with two of his friends Ajmal and Naeem near their madrasa in Bhajanpura. Another group of five persons was also sitting nearby and consuming alcohol. Suddenly, a boy, who was known to Dilkash, from the other group, came closer and allegedly slapped him. Soon, remaining four members of the group also approached Dilkash and his friends. They threatened them saying "if they want to live, they must say Jai Mata Ki," the complaint read. Dilkash claimed that he and his friends obeyed the orders and repeated the religious chant, but the group still beat them up with bamboo sticks. According to police, some locals called up the police control room, following which Dilkash and his friends were taken to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Rohini for medico-legal counselling. The doctors there found "no fresh external injuries" on Ajmal and Naeem, but Dilkash was sent for X-ray after he complained of severe pain on his left forearm. The fracture in his arm was confirmed by X-ray report which the police again sent for a medical opinion. Meanwhile, an official privy to the investigation said that during interrogation the accused have claimed that a scuffle broke out between them and the three boys but rejected the allegation that they forced them to chant any religious slogan. The police also claimed that the boy did not mention about the part of the incident wherein they were forced to chant "Jai Mata Ki". After he later added it in the statement, the case was registered yesterday.