VARANASI: Eight-year-old Mohammad Sageer is the youngest victim to have died in the stampede that followed lathi-charged by police at a peaceful protest against CAA-NRC in Varanasi Thursday last.
On December 20, the innocent Sageer was gleefully playing with his friends on the narrow bylanes of Dharara locality of Varanasi when “a group of protesters came running to protect themselves from the lathi-charge set off by Uttar Pradesh police,” according to a report by The Telegraph.
Sageer was left choking and unconscious after getting trampled by the crowd. He was very critical by the time he was picked up and rushed to the hospital.
The child, the youngest of four brothers succumbed to injuries in a hospital on Friday night.
One of his friends, 15-year-old Mohammad Tanvir lies in an ICU bed at the Banaras Hindu University Hospital and is fighting for life.
Eighteen people have been reportedly killed in anti-CAA protests in the state.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, for the first time, makes religion the test of citizenship in India.
The government says it will help minorities from three Muslim-dominated countries to get citizenship if they come to India because of religious persecution.