India security officer shoots dead Muslim child
14-year-old Saahil, worked 11-hour shifts for INR 6,000 a month after dropping out of school to care for his three brothers, three sisters, and paralytic father
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — A 14-year-old Muslim boy was shot dead in India’s capital after picking up currency notes tossed during a wedding procession, in a killing that has shaken his family and intensified anxiety among minority communities already living in fear amid rising violence across the country.
The victim, Saahil, was fatally shot in the head in the Shahdara district of East Delhi. Police have arrested Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officer Madan Gopal Tiwari, who was in the city on leave to attend a cousin’s wedding. He was detained the following day and taken into custody after interrogation, police said.
According to family accounts and witness testimonies reported in Indian media, Saahil had stopped near the wedding celebration while returning home from work at a local grocery store.
Guests began throwing currency notes into the air — a customary display during Indian wedding processions — and several neighborhood boys rushed to collect the notes from the ground.
Witnesses told the family that Saahil was grabbed by his collar and assaulted by one of the celebrants. When he asked what he had done wrong, the attacker allegedly became furious and shot him.
Police have stated that the accused was under the influence of alcohol, and a senior investigating officer told reporters that Tiwari reportedly struggled with anger and “some mental health issues.”
Neighbors ran to Saahil’s house to alert the family. The teenager was rushed to Hedgewar Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
His mother, Nisha, said the family’s life has been destroyed. “He was just coming home after work… the money and the celebrations tempted him,” she said, sobbing. She also alleged that the currency notes thrown during the procession were fake.
“He wanted to give us a better life,” she said.
Saahil’s father, Sirajuddin Ansari, who suffered a paralytic attack months earlier and is unable to work, said the boy had taken a job to support the family. Saahil worked 11-hour shifts and earned 6,000 Indian rupees per month ($72) after dropping out of school to care for his three brothers and three sisters. The family had migrated from Jharkhand to Delhi for labour work in hopes of survival and stability.
For many in the neighborhood, the killing has become a chilling reminder of how quickly ordinary moments of joy can collapse into tragedy. Community members say fear is spreading as violence and profiling against minorities grow increasingly common across India.
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