MP: Juvenile held after Muslim minors beaten, forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’; One absconding
Ratlam: Madhya Pradesh police have reportedly arrested a 17-year-old boy for allegedly assaulting three Muslim minors and forcing them to chant Jai Shri Ram, a purported video claiming to be of the incident is doing rounds on social media.
An FIR was lodged at the Manak Police station in Ratlam district here against two minor suspects under BNS sections 296, 115(2), 126(2), 351(2), 196, and 3(5) after the video went viral, while one was arrested another is on the run.
According to a report by Newslaundry, Surendra Singh Garadiya, SHO of Manak police station has stated that the accused who leaked the video is absconding, and confirmed the arrest of one minor. The offer said, “We have produced him in a juvenile court and sent him to a remand home. Our team is searching for the other accused and we will arrest him soon.”
The three victims, aged seven, 11, and 13, are students of classes 2, 5, and 6, respectively. According to the 13-year-old complainant, the assault occurred over a month ago near Amrit Sagar Talab. He recounted in his police statement:
“I, along with my two friends, went for an outing near Amrit Sagar Talab around one and a half months ago. Two people approached us and asked for our names. Then they began abusing us, assaulting us, and forcing us to chant 'Jai Shri Ram.' They also threatened to kill us if we spoke about the incident,” the 13-year-old minor said in the complaint to the police.
Imran Khokhar, an activist assisting the victims’ families, stated that the children had kept the incident secret out of fear until the video was leaked by one of the suspects, reportedly while he was intoxicated.
“The victims were terrified, but once the video came out, we helped them approach the police,” said Khokhar.
One of the victims, a six-year-old orphan living with his grandmother and aunt, locked himself in a room upon learning of the video's leak. “He was so traumatized that we had to involve the police to get him out,” Khokhar added.
Speaking to the Newslaundry, the father of the 13-year-old complainant revealed how his son’s behavior had drastically changed since the incident. “He avoided school and stopped playing outside. At the time, I didn’t understand why, but seeing the video was deeply disturbing,” he said, demanding strict punishment for the perpetrators.
Another victim’s father expressed his concern about the rising hatred in society, lamenting how even children are not spared from such toxic behavior. “I asked my son why he hadn’t told anyone about it. He seemed to be behaving normally, but perhaps he was too scared to speak up. The atmosphere in our country has become so toxic that even young children are falling victim to hatred, ” he added.
"Not Allah, Say Jai Shri Ram"
— Taj INDIA (@taj_india007) December 6, 2024
As per #viralvideo
3 minor Muslim children playing at Amrit Sagar Garden in Ratlam, #MadhyaPradesh were brutally beaten and forced to chant Jai Shri Ram
And we are worried about the minority of #BangladeshiHindus ❓#ARRESTED#Bangladesh #Pushpa2 pic.twitter.com/Bezkwovvui
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2 Indian nationals part of crew of luxury cruise ship that reported hantavirus outbreak
London (PTI): At least two Indian nationals are part of the crew of the Dutch vessel MV Hondius which reported a hantavirus outbreak with five confirmed cases and three deaths so far, according to the BBC.
The luxury cruise ship, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, began its journey on April 1 from Argentina’s Ushuaia and is expected to arrive in Spain’s Canary Islands on May 10.
About 150 passengers and crew from 28 countries were initially aboard the luxury cruise, but dozens disembarked on the island of St Helena on April 24, according to the report.
Of the 28 nationalities onboard, 38 are from the Philippines, 31 from the UK, 23 from the US, 16 from the Netherlands, 14 from Spain, nine from Germany, six from Canada, and two crew members from India, among others, the BBC reported.
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The World Health Organization said on Thursday that five of the eight suspected hantavirus cases had been confirmed.
A 69-year-old Dutch woman, confirmed to have the virus, has died; her Dutch husband and a German woman were also among the fatalities. Their cases are being investigated.
The UN health agency has said the outbreak is not the start of a pandemic.
Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at WHO, told a news briefing that the situation is not the same as six years ago with Covid-19 because hantavirus spreads through “close, intimate contact”.
Van Kerkhove said “this is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently”. She said authorities had asked “everyone to wear a mask” on board the MV Hondius.
Those in contact with or caring for suspected cases, she added, should “wear a higher level of personal protective equipment”.
Hantavirus typically spreads from rodents - but in the latest outbreak the transmission between people was documented for the first time, the WHO said.
Meanwhile, health authorities are racing to trace dozens of people who have recently disembarked from the Dutch vessel MV Hondius.
Oceanwide Expedition said 29 passengers, of at least 12 different nationalities, had left the MV Hondius in St Helena, the British Overseas Territory.
It also said the body of one deceased person—now known to be a Dutch man - was taken off the vessel.
Seven of those who left the cruise liner were British nationals.
