In the month of March this year, a 6-year-old Hindu boy was reportedly forcefully circumcised by his Muslim neighbour in the Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh. According to a report by Swarajya, the victim’s parents had filed a complaint with the local police against his neighbour Mansoor Khan, who had forcibly circumcised the little boy with the intent of converting him into Islam.
Ground Report: Hindu Kid Forcibly ‘Circumcised’, Police Book Eight-Year-Old For ‘Causing Hurt’ But Spare His Father Mansoor Despite Kid’s Testimony#MadhyaPradesh @subhi_karma https://t.co/DNpy14FiST
— Swarajya (@SwarajyaMag) July 7, 2022
As per the media report, the police had, however, filed an FIR against Mansoor Khan’s 8-year-old son under IPC section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt), instead of booking the accused Mansoor Khan. Paapun Bain, the 6-year-old victim’s father, had on March 30, submitted a letter to the Superintendent of Police of Jabalpur, accusing the police of inaction in the case.
Victim’s father Paapun Bain files a complaint with the Jabalpur police
According to Swarajya, the FIR filed by the victim’s father stated that the incident happened on the morning of March 22. According to the victim boy’s father Paapun Bain, he left for work close to his home at around 10 in the morning on March 22. Paras was still asleep then. His wife was getting ready to go to the bungalow to work. When he returned home, he discovered that his son was missing. He started looking for him. The child was found hiding behind the house. The child appeared terrified. He was reluctant to share anything despite his father’s repeated requests. He requested permission from his father to use the washroom. There, he showed Paapun his private part, which had cuts and was bleeding.
On being insisted again to share with his father what had caused the injury, the child told his father that Faizu had made the cuts with a blade. Paapun immediately took him to the police station where they were asked to go to the government hospital. He went to the hospital for treatment and, on his return, he learnt that the police had filed a case against the 8-year-old son of Mansoor Khan under IPC section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt but not his father and the prime accused Mansoor Khan.
After this, Paapun Bain on March 30, wrote to the Superintendent of Police of Jabalpur, complaining of inaction and hiding facts of the case.
Paapun Bain write to the SP of Jabalpur accusing the police of inaction
The letter written by Paapun Bain, accessed by Swarajya, stated that Mansoor Khan’s family resides in Paapun’s neighbourhood. On March 22, while he was at work close to his home, his wife hurriedly alerted him about the disappearance of their son. They discovered him behind the house after searching outside.
The boy was standing frozen and his pants were soaked in blood. When they took off his pants, they discovered that his underwear was where the blood was dripping from and not his legs. Paapun observed that a portion of the upper layer of the boy’s penis had been removed and there were cut marks all around it.
When asked, the boy said that the 8-year-old neighbour boy and his father Mansoor Khan had done that to him in the bathroom.
Paapun immediately rushed to confront Mansoor. He lambasted him for forcibly circumcising his son with the intent of converting him into Islam. Mansoor started abusing him with casteist slurs. He went on to threaten Paapun saying that he had done the ‘khatna’ (circumcision) and Paapun could do whatever he wished to.
Paapun hurried to the police station where the officers asked him to first take the 6-year-old to the nearby hospital. When he returned, the cops had already registered a case but had named only Mansoor’s 8-year-old boy as the accused. Despite Paapun’s repeated request, they did not name Mansoor Khan in the FIR. The statement in the FIR did not match the complaint narrated by Paapun and was manipulated.
The report reads that Paapun repeatedly told the police that Mansoor and his son had circumcised his child but the police turned a deaf ear.
Mansoor threatened Paapun saying he must take back his complaint or he would be driven out of Khamariya. He also threatened him with a similar repercussion.
What the victim’s mother told Swarajya
On June 23, a Swarajya reporter reached the Jabalpur home of the victim child and spoke to his mother who narrated the entire ordeal. Deepa confirmed that they belonged to the Basor caste, which is a scheduled caste.
She recalled that the incident had happened around Holi. On the day of the incident, her 6-year-old son was fast asleep while she was getting ready for work. Their neighbour Mansoor Khan’s 8-year-old son came to their house and said he wanted to play with the boy.
She confirmed that the 8-year-old is the only child of Mansoor who lived adjacent to their house. Mansoor’s wife worked at the same bungalow as a house help where Deepa worked.
Deepa further added that the 8-year-old took the victim to his house saying that they would play with each other. She recalled her son telling her that Mansoor’s son took him inside a room and locked it. Mansoor was present in the room. “The boy held him while Mansoor made the cut. That’s what our son told us,” Deepa told the Swarajya journalist.
Notably, the Swarajya journalist had on June 25, also shared the victim’s testimony on her official Twitter account.
I met 6-year-old Paras & his mother Deepa in Jabalpur, they told me one of their neighbours Mansoor Khan with his 9-year-old son Faizan alias Faizu forcefully circumcised Paras while they were playing. They made a circular cut, as done in circumcision. @KanoongoPriyank pls help🙏 pic.twitter.com/t5N41S25U6
— Subhi Vishwakarma (@subhi_karma) June 25, 2022
Deepa then reportedly asked the victim to open his pant in front of the Swarajya journalist who confirmed that the cut was circular at the tip of his private part. Deepa was quoted as saying that “the circumcision was Mansoor’s idea and execution, but the police were protecting him.”
“How can an eight-year-old do khatna by himself? It was Mansoor who did it,” she told the media outlet.
Deepa then went on to narrate the hardships the family is having to face after the incident.
“After my husband gave a complaint against Mansoor at the police station, the company fired us from work and asked us to vacate the servant quarters,” she said, adding, “the wife of the manager told me she did not want the police to come to her house.” They were given the notice to vacate the servant quarters.
Deepa showed the Swarajya journalist the notice they received on March 24, from the head of Yard and Estate Office.
The notice reportedly read that Deepa and her family ‘breached peace’ at the premises and hence were ordered to leave the quarter within a stipulated period of 15 days or else they would be forcefully removed.
Five days after the notice, the family were forced to shift to a rented place in the Bada Patthar area for a monthly rental of Rs 2000.
According to the report, the victim boy’s father Paapun Bain is a labourer who takes up jobs as per requirement. Sometimes he works as a painter, at other times as a construction labourer. At times, he also works as a house help. Deepa said that currently, Paapun is jobless.
Besides, because of the incident, the victim boy had to also change his school, lamented Deepa, adding that though they are poor they would not silently bear the insult and injustice to their child.
“We did not know anything about ‘Hindu-Muslim’. We never treated them differently. I considered Mansoor’s boy as my own child. But look what they have done to our son. We are Hindus and will remain so till our death. No one has the right to force their religion upon us,” rued Deepa.
When questioned if Mansoor or his family ever tried forcing her to accept Islam or told them about Islam before this incident, she said, “If he had tried doing so, why would we continue to live there?”
Deepa further said that Mansoor Khan’s wife told her that she was also Hindu before marriage and was converted to Islam after she married him. “Mansoor is a very religious person and never allowed his wife to follow her old religion. His wife told me that once, her mother gave her some pictures of Hindu deities but Mansoor threw them outside the house,” she said.
Deepa added that Mansoor’s wife told her that the couple was on the verge of separating from each other.
A week ago I met this distressed family, whose kid was forcefully circumcised by one of their neighbourer. Mansoor Khan trained his 8-year-old son to do so. See what the mother of victim 6-year-old Paras had to say: pic.twitter.com/MgSQ4S39sb
— Subhi Vishwakarma (@subhi_karma) July 6, 2022
Victim’s mother speaks about the police’s apathy
“When the policemen at the Khamariya police station manipulated our complaint, we reached the SP office. After that, the behaviour of the [Town Inspector] has changed towards us,” she said. “He scolded my husband for going to the SP.”
The SP, as per Deepa, told her, “Kya hum bacche ko fansi laga de? [should we hang the child?]” The SP was referring to Mansoor’s son and dismissed her case.
Deepa, as per the Swarajya journalist added that no police officer is considering the role of Mansoor Khan, despite the child’s repeated testimony. She said that when they found no help, they called up the CM’s helpline. After making the call, the Town Inspector called them to the police station and said, “Now that you have tried reaching the CM, get justice from there only,” rued the helpless mother of the 6-year-old Hindu victim.
I would like to show you all, what police did to them. See the administrative failure here. Dear, @OfficeofSSC & @drnarottammisra help this family, as the @jabalpurpolice failed miserably 🙌
— Subhi Vishwakarma (@subhi_karma) July 6, 2022
See: pic.twitter.com/WuUPSYas0w
While speaking to the Swarajya journalist, the distressed mother urged help. “Please take our case to higher authorities,” Deepa bemoaned.
Deepa added that her family is extremely dissatisfied with the way the Khamariya police have handled their case. After a few volunteers from the Hindu Jagran Manch, especially one Yogesh Aggarwal, backed them, the issue received local attention, said Deepa.
The media outlet said it placed a number of calls to the Khamariya police station between June 25 to July 3, but no one picked up. The FIR also does not include the contact information of the case’s investigating officer, Shiv Kumar Dhurve. The other number, which this reporter found was of the control room. They too received the call once before ceasing to do so once they realised that the call was being made by a journalist, read the report by Swarajya.
Dr Nisar Khan and his son forcibly circumcise their Hindu servant in Madhya Pradesh
This is not the first such case of forced religious conversion that has come to the fore in Madhya Pradesh. Last year, a 31-year-old man had filed a complaint against 2 people for forcibly circumcising him with the intent of converting him into Islam.
In his complaint, the victim identified as Dashrath told the police that he worked under one Dr Nisar Khan, a resident of Malikheda, who along with his son circumcised him against his will. He was threatened and intimidated to embrace Islam and even forced to offer namaz, Dashrath had alleged in his complaint.
