New Delhi

The co-owner of fact-checking website AltNews, Mohammed Zubair, was booked by police on Monday for allegedly disclosing the identity of the 7-year-old Muslim boy who was slapped by classmates on the instructions of their teacher.

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The police in Uttar Pradesh’s western Muzaffarnagar district filed a case under Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act after a person named Vishnudutt filed a complaint. 

The law makes it punishable to disclose the identity of a child victim or witness of a crime. Those held guilty could be sentenced to six months in jail or fined up to Rs 200,000 ($2,420 approx).

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Zubair was one of the journalists who posted the video of the incident on social media. However, he later deleted it.

Zubair calls FIR 'vindictive'

Reacting to the FIR, Zubair told the Indian Express newspaper, “I did not receive any notice or call from the police. It was through social media that I found that an FIR has been lodged against me.” 

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“I was checking the FIR and it does not have any other names. Why was only my name put there? There were several media outlets that posted the video before and after me. I later removed the video after I was told that I was disclosing the minor’s identity. This has happened to me before in 2020 as well. I was targeted… This shows the police can target anyone.”

The matter came to light on August 25 after a video of the incident went viral, showing the teacher, Tripti Tyagi, who instigated other students to slap the Muslim boy “hard”. In the clip, she can also purportedly be heard making pejorative statements about Muslims.

Also read | Disturbing video emerges: Teacher in India prods students to slap Muslim classmate. Watch

Teacher yet to be arrested 

The woman teacher, who is also the owner of the school, has been booked by the Uttar Pradesh Police under Sections 323 (causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code. However, no arrest has been made so far.

The incident caused widespread uproar, with many demanding that the teacher be sacked and given strict punishment.

Also read | Haryana: Security stepped up in Nuh after calls for 'Shobha Yatra'

However, the woman defended her move, saying that such measures were necessary to "control" kids at school.

In an interview with NDTV news channel, Tyagi said, “I am not ashamed. I have served the people of this village as a teacher. They all are with me." 

"They have made laws, but we need to control the children in schools. This is how we tackle them,” she added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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