13 year old boy killed by army Jawan
Posted on: 03/Jul/2011 11:33:50 PM
A 13-year old boy in north Chennai died on Sunday after he was shot when he scaled a wall to enter the army`s residential quarters.
The incident was triggering public protests and condemnation by the Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha.
As irate crowds agitated outside the government general hospital where the boy died, chief minister J Jayalalithaa issued a statement that the Indian army should hand over to the state police the jawan who shot the boy. "This is unacceptable. The security personnel could have easily known that this boy is not a terrorist or a militant," she said.
Dilson, who lived in a nearby slum, had jumped over to enter the Old Fort Glacis Officers` Enclave at 1.30 pm along with a few friends. Minutes later, after he climbed a tree, his friends heard gunshots and fled. When they returned with Dilson`s relatives, they found him lying unconscious on the grounds, bleeding from the head. They rushed him to the government general hospital where he succumbed to his injuries in the evening.
The person who shot the boy remained unidentified till reports last came in.
The youngest of four siblings, Dilson was a class five dropout who worked for daily wages to help his ailing father, Kumar, a carpenter. The family lived in Indira Gandhi Nagar, a slum close to the Island Grounds. Crowds comprising Dilson`s relatives and neighbours thronged the hospital and army quarters in the evening in protest, blocking traffic and demanding justice. The crowds also surrounded vehicles of ministers who visited the hospital to verify the details.
The police have registered a case of murder (section 302 of IPC). Finance minister O Panneerselvam handed over a cheque for Rs 5 lakh to Dilson`s grieving family minutes after the post-mortem.
