Boy allegedly set ablaze for refusing to chant 'Jai Shri Ram'

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Chandauli: A 15-year-old Muslim boy was set on fire by four people in Chandauli district when the boy refused to chant "Jai Shri Ram".

The incident took place on Sunday night and the boy has been admitted in Kabir Chaura hospital in Varanasi.

The teenager was set on fire when he refused to chant "Jai Shri Ram". He gave this statement on the hospital's camera.

"I was walking on Dudhari bridge when four men kidnapped me. Two of them tied my hand and third one started pouring kerosene. After which they set me on fire and ran away," he said.

He later said that he was being forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram".

However, the police are treating this whole case as suspicious.

A senior police official in Varanasi told IANS that he was not aware of the incident.

However, these accusations have been refuted by police which is suspecting foul play after finding discrepancies in the statements of the victim.

The boy identified as Mohammad Khalid, a resident of Saiyad Raja area of the district reached home in a partially burnt state on Sunday morning.

Chandauli Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar Singh reached the hospital to record the statement of the victim, who was later referred to Varanasi.

SP Chandauli stated that the boy has given contradictory statements, which were found to be false during the investigation as an eyewitness has claimed to have seen the boy set setting himself ablaze.

"He is admitted in a hospital with 45 per cent burns. He had given different statements to different people, so it seemed suspicious. It seemed he had been tutored. Police monitored CCTV footage of places he had mentioned and found that he had not been at any of those places", the district police chief added.

Further investigation in the matter is underway.

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