UP Muslim schoolboy slap case: Police case against Mohammed Zubair
Fact-checker and Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair is facing a First Information Report (FIR) for revealing the identity of the minor Muslim boy who was allegedly slapped by his classmates on the orders of their school teacher in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. According to India Today, Zubair has been booked under Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act. Reportedly, the complaint was filed by an individual named Vishnudutt.
Know about Section 74 of Juvenile Justice Act
It's worth noting that Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act forbids the disclosure of the identity of juveniles, which also applies to the disclosure of the identity of a deceased minor. Those found guilty under this section could be subjected to six months of imprisonment or a fine of up to Rs. 2 lakh, as per the news outlet Outlook India.
Details on UP boy case
Last Friday, a video of a seven-year-old Muslim boy being slapped by his classmates on their teacher Tripta Tyagi's orders went viral. Tyagi, also the principal of Neha Public School, Muzaffarnagar, could also be heard making derogatory statements about the kid's faith in the video. Following a public uproar, the police filed an FIR against Tyagi. However, the charges against her are non-cognizable, meaning the police would require a warrant for arrest and court authorization for an inquiry.
FIR filed against teacher over slap incident
Tyagi later came out to defend her actions amid the outrage, claiming that the viral video had been tampered with and that a relative of the student shot it. Meanwhile, authorities have registered a case against the accused teacher under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace). Both bailable offenses require a warrant for arrest.
Teacher's response to incident
Speaking to NDTV, the accused teacher earlier said, "I am not ashamed. I have served the people of this village as a teacher. They all are with me." "They have made laws, but we need to control the children in schools. This is how we tackle them," she added. Furthermore, the teacher also labeled the matter as a "minor issue" that has been "unnecessarily turned into a big issue."
Zubair earlier jailed for alleged hate speech
To note, this is not the first time that Zubair has landed in the soup. Last year, he spent nearly a month in jail for allegedly hurting religious sentiments following a complaint from a social media user about his tweet from 2018. Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police for tweeting an image of a hotel signboard changed from "Honeymoon Hotel" to "Hanuman Hotel." Later, he was also charged with criminal conspiracy, destroying evidence, and receiving foreign funds.
