Six days after he was arrested on charges of rioting, an 8-year-old boy was granted bail by a court in Bihar’s Siwan on Wednesday.
The boy was arrested by the Bihar Police after communal clashes took place on September 8 during a Mahavir Akhara rally in Barharia town, situated about 250 kilometres from Patna.
The minor was among the 35 persons booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code dealing with rioting, attempt to murder, assault, disturbing a religious assembly, causing grievous hurt, provoking breach of peace and criminal conspiracy.
While the Bihar Police had recorded his age as 13, the boy’s birth certificate, issued by the gram panchayat and reviewed by Scroll.in, showed he is eight years old. Siwan District Magistrate Amit Kumar Pandey had said that authorities recorded the boy’s age as 13 based on what he “told them when he was in custody”.
The boy’s 70-year-old grandfather had also arrested in the case. He was granted bail on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the minor’s lawyer, Navin Srivastav, told Scroll.in that the boy was granted bail on sureties provided by her mother and aunt.
“The conditions of bail include the mother’s undertaking that she will take care of him, not let him mingle in bad company, focus on his education and in the future he will never have such a reputation again,” Srivastav said.
The minor’s brother said that the boy reached home around 6.30 pm on Wednesday.
“He has come home after six days,” the brother said. “He seems very scared still. It will take a few days for him to become okay.”
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