'I thought I would die': Caterer pushes 11-year-old boy into tandoor for eating rasgullas at wedding in UP

LUCKNOW: An 11-year-old boy is battling for life after he was pushed into a burning tandoor by a catering contractor on Friday for eating rasgullas at a wedding in UP’s Basti district. The accused has been arrested.The victim, Chaman of Gonda, had been living with his maternal grandparents’ family in Basti’s Chhawani area after his mother’s death. He had accompanied his grandmother to a relative’s wedding. According to family members, Chaman was playing at the venue before he went to the area where the food was being prepared, and began eating sweets.Eyewitnesses said the catering contractor, Lalji Nishad, 35, saw the boy repeatedly taking rasgullas, and thought he was an intruder at the wedding. Lalji dragged the child to the cooking area and forced him to sit on a burning tandoor. The boy lost balance and fell into the tandoor, suffering severe burns from face to waist.Hearing his screams, guests rushed to the spot and pulled him out. The child was first taken to a nearby hospital, and later referred to King George’s Medical College in Lucknow, where he remains in a critical condition.Speaking briefly from his hospital bed, the child recounted: “It was burning… I kept crying and asking them to take me out. It hurt a lot. I thought I would die.”Basti SP Yesh Veer Singh told TOI that Lalji and his brother Ramesh Nishad, 27, had the catering contract for the wedding. “They fled after the incident, but were arrested on Saturday,” said the SP. Basti CO Swarnima Singh said the accused had been on charges of attempt to murder under BNS section 109 (1), based on a complaint filed by the boy’s uncle, Devidin Nishad.