The death of the boy has once again brought into focus how children are being pushed into armed conflict across the country
There has been no end to the fear and misery at a village 70 kilometres away from the Naxal-dominated Latehar district in Jharkhand. On September 13, they took away a 10-year-old boy and nine other children from the village, telling the locals that they would be part of their armed squads.
Earlier, they had sent word to the village that they must either pay Rs 5,000 per family or give one child each.
A grieving father told NDTV, "I asked them, 'Why are you taking such young people?'. They said, 'Don't interfere or there will be bloodshed'." Three days later, the 10-year-old boy's body was dumped back at the village. No explanation was offered for the death.
The other nine children slowly resurfaced at the village over the next few days, most of them claiming on camera that they managed to escape. They also explained how the 10-year-old boy had died. He was trying to assemble some kind of a battery when there was a loud explosion. The boy died instantly.
The Naxals wrapped his body in a blanket and took him away.
The death of the boy has once again brought into focus how children are being pushed into armed conflict across the country, especially in Naxal-dominated areas like Jharkhand. A Delhi-based human rights organisation put the number of children in armed conflict at 3,000 in a report in March this year.
The village in Latehar serves as a reflection of how people in remote and isolated corners of the country are caught between the Naxals and an indifferent administration.
The man incharge of policing in Latehar, Dr Michael Raj S, however, refuses to term this a crisis of confidence between them and the public, saying the security forces are trying to 'instil confidence' among them.
The situation in the village is a reflection of how complex it has become for our administrators to deal with the issue of Naxalism.