A 15-year-old Muslim boy died during treatment at Murari Lal Chest Hospital in Kanpur late on Monday (July 25) night. The boy was identified as Dilshan alias Raja, a resident of Madaiya West village under Chhibramau Kotwali in Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh. After the student’s death, different versions of the news started circulating in the media.
While police confirmed that the student’s autopsy report listed the cause of death as cardiorespiratory failure and chronic lung disorder, many media houses quoted the family as claiming that the boy was beaten to death by three teachers of a school in Madaiya village of Kannauj district on suspicion of stealing a watch when he went there to seek admission.
Speaking about the case on July 27 Kannauj Superintendent of Police, Kunwar Anupam Singh, confirmed in a video byte that the police had sent the body of the deceased student for a post-mortem after registering an FIR in the aforementioned case. The autopsy report confirmed that there were no injury marks on the deceased’s body. In fact, the cause of death was mentioned as chronic lung disease. He added that the allegations of torture and assault have been found to be untrue. The SP said that the police are thoroughly investigating the case and action will be taken on the basis of evidence.
— kannauj police (@kannaujpolice) July 27, 2022
How media houses misreported the death of the Kannauj student
The Kannauj police’s Tweet had come in response to a Tweet posted by the Millat Times, wherein the news portal shared a picture of the student with claims that a teacher of a school in Madaiya village of Kannauj district, named Shiv Kumar Kumar summoned Dilshan and accused him of stealing a watch. On suspicion of theft, the teacher had beaten up the student so badly that he succumbed to the injuries.
घड़ी गायब हुई तो पूछताछ के लिए 14 साल के दिलशाद को टीचर शिव कुमार ने पूछताछ के लिए बुलाया, और फिर इतना पीटा की वो मर गया
— Millat Times (@Millat_Times) July 27, 2022
उत्तर प्रदेश के कन्नौज के छिबरामऊ के पास आर एस इंटर कॉलेज का मामला pic.twitter.com/OWjw1eWVU2
Notably, Millet Times was not the only media house that highlighted this version of the incident. Other media houses like the NDTV, Hindustan Times and Times of India also reported along the same lines, highlighting the family’s claims that the 15-year-old boy was allegedly beaten to death by three teachers of a school in Madaiya village of Kannauj district on suspicion of stealing a watch when he went there to seek admission.
Since in the aforementioned case, the victim was a Muslim, Maktoob Media used the opportunity to play Muslim victimhood by highlighting the religion of the boy in the headline. It headlined the report, “UP: Muslim boy beaten to death by teachers, police begin probe.” Interestingly, the report published by the Islamist propaganda portal was dated July 28, a day after the Kannauj police revealed that the death was not due to assault but because of chronic lung disorder.
The reports read that the father of the boy, Jahangir Khan, alleged in his police complaint that Dilshan was locked in a room and assaulted at the RS Inter College in the Ramlila Maidan area on July 23. The complaint states that teacher Shivkumar Yadav summoned Dilshan and accused him of stealing a watch. Following this, Shivkumar and his colleagues Prabhakar and Vivek Yadav locked Dilshan inside a room and assaulted him, states the complaint.
Jahangir said Dilshan had suffered internal injuries and when he came back from school, he fainted after vomiting. “We took him to the hospital. Doctors referred him to Kanpur as there was no improvement in his condition,” he said.
Reacting to the complaint, SP Kunwar Anupam Singh had cleared then too that they were investigating if the death was due to an assault. “Strict action would be taken against the accused, as per the rules, if the post-mortem report confirms the assault,” he said.
Two days later, the autopsy report of the 15-year-old boy revealed that he allegedly died of tuberculosis.
In fact, Vinod Kumar, the Chief Medical Officer also confirmed on Wednesday that the boy identified as Dilshan died of tuberculosis, according to the autopsy report. “Both of his lungs had puss deposits; there was no sign of contusion or abrasion found on the body,” he added.
