12-year-old bravery award winner writes to CJI over Shaheen Bagh infant's death

New Delhi: A 12-year-old national bravery award winner has written to the Chief Justice of India seeking the court to issue directions that would prevent children and infant involvement in demonstrations and agitations, following the death of four-month old Mohammad Johan, who died after catching cold during the anti-CAA/NRC protest at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh.

Zen Gunratan Sadavarte had received that National Bravery Award from the Indian Council for Child Welfare for saving 10 people from a fire at Mumbai's Crystal Tower in August 2018 and has said in her letter to CJI SA Bobde that involvement of children and infants in protests amount to "torture and cruelty".

The Supreme Court received the letter on Wednesday, where Sadavarte also requested the court to issues directions to police authorities and other appropriate authorities to investigate the cause of Jahaan's death. The 12-year-old cited a news report which said that the four-month-old's death certificate did not mention the cause of death.

Sadavarte has also sought action against organisers of the Shaheen Bagh protest, blaming them for the infant's death and violation of child rights and natural justice.

Jahaan had died of severe cold and congestion last week. His parents, Mohammed Arif and Nazia, live in a makeshift house made with plastic sheets about two km from protest site; they have two other children — a five-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son.

The Shaheen Bagh protests have come under attack recently by several political parties as they campaigned for the upcoming Assembly elections in Delhi. Many have also blamed the protesters for blocking a key road connecting Noida to Delhi, thereby causing traffic

jams.