The Delhi Police on Monday rejected allegations made by the family of one of the accused in the Uttam Nagar Holi murder case that a 14-year-old boy identified as Rizwan had gone missing after being taken from a hospital. Describing this, the police said the claim is “baseless and completely untrue.”
The police, in an official statement, clarified that Rizwan is one of the main accused in the case and has been apprehended. “Rizwan is one of the main accused who was apprehended and has been sent to an observation home by the Juvenile Justice Board. The reports of him missing are baseless and completely untrue,” the statement reads.
According to the family, the 14-year-old, Rizwan, was allegedly abducted after being discharged from a hospital under ‘suspicious’ circumstances. He was admitted, as alleged by the family, after being severely beaten with a rod by Tarun, causing him to suffer repeated seizures.
Following this, he was taken to the hospital with the involvement of the police. Initially taken to Deen Dayal Hospital, he was shifted to Safdarjung Hospital, citing the unavailability of necessary medical facilities.
Furthermore, he was taken to World Brain Hospital for not receiving proper medical treatment at Safdarjung Hospital, the family said.
The family further alleged that a doctor informed them that Rizwan was being discharged and asked the family to leave immediately, forcing them to sign discharge papers.
Moreover, the family alleged that unidentified individuals arrived in a vehicle and took him away, and when the family attempted to report the incident at a police station, their complaint was not registered.
According to several reports, a clash erupted between two families in the JJ Colony area of Delhi’s Uttam Nagar on March 4 after a water balloon thrown during play by a minor girl allegedly splashed a Muslim woman. The altercation escalated into violence, leaving 26-year-old Tarun Kumar dead.
However, the family of the accused, while talking to FoEJ Media, disputed this version of events. She claimed that the balloon was not thrown by a child but by a young man. According to her account, her aunt had been returning home carrying items for the Sheri (pre-dawn) Ramadan meal from where the incident takes its initial roots.
“A young man around 20 years old threw it. My aunt was returning with food items for sehri when the balloon was thrown at her from near their house. When she raised an alarm, members of that household came outside,” the family said.
The family insisted that the entire incident was being portrayed from only one perspective. “People should listen to both sides. You cannot complete an investigation by hearing just one side,” they said.
