The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has acted on a media report alleging a 16-year-old boy was wrongly held in Kasna jail in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Budh Nagar district. The NHRC finds the situation, if true, a serious human rights violation and has summoned reports from the state’s prison and police authorities within two weeks. Additionally, the NHRC has ordered an investigation team to visit the site and report back within a week.
The victim, despite being granted bail, remains in a juvenile home due to his family’s inability to provide the required surety bond as per the media report. The NHRC expressed concern over the potential human rights violation faced by the victim, as highlighted in the news report. The boy, from Shahjahanpur district, was reportedly arrested and placed in Kasna jail as an adult inmate, despite being a minor.
According to the media report dated June 16, the boy was apprehended after laborers protested for better wages and working conditions in the district. The boy was lured to a location on April 14, 2026, under the guise of a parcel, where he was then arrested by police. Subsequently, serious charges were levied against him under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) laws. The police allegedly mistreated and coerced the boy into signing documents.
Even after a medical test confirmed his minor status, it took authorities six more days to relocate him from Kasna jail to a juvenile home, as highlighted by the NHRC.
