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Zubair is not new to controversies
MUZAFFARNAGAR: Self-proclaimed fact-checker Muhammad Zubair – who faces cases for hurting religious sentiments, peddling fake news, and charges under POCSO Act – has now been booked in the assault case of a Muslim school child in Muzaffarnagar, UP.
The Alt News co-founder shared a video of a mid-age school teacher, Tripta Tyagi, ordering over a dozen students to slap a Muslim child for failing to complete homework in Khubbarpur area of Muzaffarnagar in western UP.
He has been charged with revealing the identity of the minor child victim, under section 74 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
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The law prohibits publication of “the name, address or school or any other particular” in any news item or audio-visual media, which “may lead to the identification of a child in conflict with law or a child in need of care and protection or a child victim”.
Zubair, who is known for selectively sharing news in order to create religious disharmony, was taken to task by a Muzaffarnagar resident who filed a complaint at the Mansoorpur police station for violating the child’s rights by revealing his identity.
Police have registered the case and started an investigation into the matter.
“I came across a video on August 25 in connection to an incident that happened at Neha Public School, Khubbapur shared by a journalist of Alt News, Mohammed Zubair. In the video, the minor’s identity was revealed, which is a violation of the rights provided to the child under the Juvenile Justice Act,” reads the FIR accessed by The New Indian.
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Zubair is no stranger to such controversies. In 2020, an FIR was registered against him under the stringent POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, for posting the profile picture of a Twitter user which had her granddaughter in it. He was arrested and later granted bail.
In January 2022, Delhi Police booked him for hurting religious sentiments over a tweet showing an image of a hotel signboard repainted from “Honeymoon Hotel” to “Hanuman Hotel”.
In July, he was booked in six different cases by the UP Police for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion.
