Uttar Pradesh: Minor Dalit boy died by alleged suicide in a juvenile home, family says he was earlier beaten by upper-caste inmates

A 16-year-old Dalit boy died by suicide in a juvenile home in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district. His family said that he had been allegedly beaten up by upper caste inmates for "daring" to run away with an upper caste girl.

The boy hails from Amroha district, his father said in complaint to the police, "Late on Monday night, I got a call telling me that my son had hanged himself. But I am certain he was murdered."

On the basis of the complaint, an FIR was lodged against eight persons — five inmates, the girl's parents and her uncle — for murder, criminal conspiracy and under the SC/ST Act on Tuesday. The body has been sent for post mortem and the report is awaited.

The deceased had been sent to the juvenile centre on July 30 after being held for "kidnapping" an upper caste girl he had eloped with. District probation officer Nagender Pal Singh said a high-level probe has been ordered into the case.

The boy's father said, "I had met him two days before that and he said he was in deep pain. He was crying and asking me to get him out because inmates, in collusion with juvenile home staffers, would thrash him brutally. He had told me they broke his rib and he found it difficult to breathe. His hip bone had also been injured."

The boy, along with four others, had run away from the home on August 16. The boy's uncle said the case for which he was held was the reason why they believe the girl's family may have been involved.

"Our boy was just 16. The girl lived with her family on the upper floor of our house in Amroha on rent. They fell in love but the family moved out. The two stayed in touch. The girl asked our boy to meet him and take her away. He made the mistake of eloping with her. The girl's family filed a police complaint and he was held," the uncle said.