6-Year-Old Bihar Boy Stages Dharna Over ‘Police Excesses’ Against Parents

Patna: A six-year-old boy who made headlines earlier this week for joining the student protest here was on a sit-in at Gardanibagh area on Sunday, alleging his parents were "beaten up by police while he was taken into custody".

The boy, Aditya Kumar, also demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention into the matter.

The boy had joined the protests led by Bihar Public Service Commission exam aspirants on August 25, during which they intended to gherao Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhury's residence over a range of demands, including a single-tier test for Teacher Recruitment Examination (TRE-4).

"My parents were beaten up while I was kept separated from them in custody for eight hours. My parents are not criminals, so why did police beat them up?" Aditya said on Sunday.

The police, however, had earlier said that the boy was handed over to his mother, who works as a house help, after being kept at a police station "for his own safety".

"We also advised the mother and her daily wage-earning husband to be more careful with their child who must not have been allowed to roam around when the area was beset with trouble," said a police officer.

Urging people and politicians across party lines to support his protest, the boy said he would not budge from the site unless Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets him to address his grievances.

"We will definitely meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He holds roadshows during elections. Now, he should concede to our demand and meet us. We will continue sitting here in protest as long as it doesn't happen," Aditya said.

A day before initiating his sit-in protest, the boy told media persons that he handed over a letter seeking judicial probe into police excesses to Bihar DGP Vinay Kumar.

"I have full trust in the DGP sir that he will order a judicial probe into the matter. I will initiate a sit-in if a judicial probe is not ordered," he said.