Lucknow: Two minor girls, one aged 12 years and other 16, have been arrested in Muzaffarnagar district’s Khatauli area after police officials produced them as adults in front of a local court on the charges of cow slaughter. The girls’ mother and six others have also been arrested.
The police had arrested the nine people on Friday and had claimed that 10 quintals of meat and instruments used for butchering along with hides of cattle were recovered from the spot.
While four people managed to flee, police arrested nine people, including two minor girls, and instead of sending them to juvenile homes, sent to the jail after producing them as adults before a local court.
The Aadhaar cards of the two girls show their dates of birth as 2005 and 2001 respectively. According to law, minors are not handcuffed or sent to jail. They are produced before juvenile justice board and then sent to correction homes.
As soon as news of the arrests spread, local gathered in huge numbers and protested against the police for arresting the minor girls and the wife of the main accused, Nasimuddin.
The spokesperson of AIMIM, Shadab Ahmed, also joined the family members of the accused and raised questions over the arrest of the minor girls. “Two little girls are in jail along with three women. I don't understand under which law police sent them to jail” he said.
Speaking to reporters, SSP Ajay Sahdev said he has ordered a probe into the matter but refrained on commenting about the minor girls being sent to jail. “Circle Officer, Khatauli, will look into the matter and action will be taken after investigation is over.”
The station officer of Khatauli Police station, Ambika Prasad Bhardwaj, said, “The arrested people were engaged in cow slaughter. The accused Nasimuddin has few more cow slaughter cases registered against him. We recovered meat and hides of five cows from the spot.”
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