Maharashtra: Parents held, shop razed after minor’s ‘anti-India’ slogans after India-Pakistan match

The police have arrested the parents of a minor boy who allegedly shouted “anti-India slogans” in the Malvan town of Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district after the Indian cricket team defeated Pakistan in a Champions Trophy match on Sunday, The Hindu reported.

The boy has been sent to an observation home, The Indian Express reported.

The municipal council on Monday demolished the scrap shop owned by the boy’s father, claiming that the structure lacked permission. In the process, they also damaged a vehicle owned by the family.

There are no provisions in Indian law that allow for the demolition of property as a punitive measure. But the practice has become commonplace in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.

On November 13, the Supreme Court held as illegal the practice of demolishing properties of persons accused of crimes as a punitive measure. It said that processes must be followed before removing allegedly illegal encroachments.

Kudal MLA Nilesh Rane said that “for now we have destroyed his scrap business” and vowed to “ensure he is eventually thrown out of the district”.

The Malvan town is part of the Kudal Assembly constituency. Rane belongs to the Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena.

Rane posted photos of the demolition on social media and thanked the police and the municipal council for taking “immediate action”. The MLA also thanked the Malvan Lawyers Bar Association for deciding not...

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