On 28th August, Uttar Pradesh Police booked Alt News’ co-founder Mohammed Zubair under Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, for sharing a video of a minor on social media. The FIR was registered based on a complaint that was submitted on 28th August.
The complainant accused Zubair of sharing a video on social media that revealed the identity of a minor. It read, “I came across a video on 25th August in connection to an incident that happened at Neha Public School Khubbapur shared by a journalist of Alt News, Mohammed Zubair. In the video, the minor’s identity was revealed, which is against the rights provided to minors under the Juvenile Justice Act.” The complainant requested the police to take strict action against Zubair.
OpIndia tried to confirm details of the matter from the concerned police station but could not connect.
NCPCR has warned against publishing videos on social media
On 25th August, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)’s chief, Priyank Kanoongo, urged the public not to publish the video. He said, “In Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, the incident of a teacher getting a child beaten up by other children in the class has been reported. Taking cognisance, instructions are being issued for action. Everyone is requested not to share the video of the child. Give information about such incidents by email. Do not become a part of the crime by revealing the identity of the children.”
Following NCPCR’s warning Zubair deleted the video and played the victim in advance, saying, “Deleting the video as NCPCR might take action against the ‘messenger'”. Mohammed Zubair is very well aware of the consequences of sharing videos of minors on social media as he was booked in a similar case earlier. Still, he went ahead and shared the tweet and deleted it only after a statement from NCPCR.
Section 74 of the JJ Act has the provision of six months in prison and a Rs 2 lakh fine
As per sub-section (1) of Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, no report in any newspaper, magazine, news sheet audio-visual media, or other forms of communication regarding any inquiry investigation, or judicial procedure shall disclose the name, address, school or any other particular that may lead to the identification of a child in conflict with law or a child in need of care and protection or a child victim or witness of a crime, involved in such matter, under any other law for the time being in force, nor shall the picture of any such child be published.
The law further states that its rule can be overdriven only if the Board or Committee, as the case may be, holding the inquiry may permit such disclosure if, in its opinion, such disclosure is in the child’s best interest.
If someone does not follow the rule mentioned in sub-section (1) of Section 74 of the JJ Act, the accused shall be imprisoned for a term extending to six months or a fine extending to two lakh rupees or both.
Muzaffarnagar school case
On Friday (August 25), a video of a student being slapped by his classmates, on the teacher’s instructions, went viral on social media. The incident took place at the Neha Public School in Khubbapur village in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh.
As per reports, the incident took place on Thursday (August 24) when a student got his multiplication table wrong. The class teacher, who is a handicapped woman, instructed other kids in the class to slap him. She was identified as Tripta Tyagi, the owner of the Neha Public School.
In a video that went viral on social media, the said student could be seen in tears while other kids slap him one by one. Tyagi was also heard saying, “Kya tum maar rahe ho? Zor se maaro na (Why are you hitting him lightly? Hit him hard).” She had also made a reference to ‘Mohammedan students.’
Police, father and cousin of the victim deny communal angle
While speaking about the incident, SP (Muzaffarnagar) Satyanarayan Prajapat, informed, “In the video, the teacher said that the Mohammedan children, who are not looked after by their mothers, go astray. This was also confirmed by the man who shot the video.”
The victim’s father categorically stated that there was no religious or Hindu-Muslim angle in this case as was being wrongfully portrayed by the Islamo-leftist cabal on social media to fan communal disharmony.
Additionally, the cousin of the kid who recorded the video of the incident and identified himself as Nadeem, son of Mohd Imtiaz, also asserted the same.
While elaborating on the incident, he highlighted that the accused teacher was asking other students to beat his cousin. However, he added that the teacher’s remark and the video were edited to make aggravated and communal claims regarding what transpired in front of him.
He stressed that the teacher said Muslim mothers take their kids to their relatives’ house during the examination period, which negatively impact their studies. He categorically highlighted that she didn’t make any anti-Muslim remarks.
Arib, who is 32 years old, revealed to OpIndia that Tripta Tyagi had also taught him English when he was young. He added that Tripta never treated him differently because of his religious identity. He added that currently, his two-year-old daughter is going to the same school. He asserted that she is doing very well academically and has never experienced religious discrimination at the school.