A 15-year-old boy in Uttar Pradesh, who was allegedly set on fire for not chanting Jai Shri Ram by a group of people in Chandauli district, has succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday. Khalid was brought to Kashi’s Kabir Chaura hospital with 60 percent burn injuries on 28 July.

The police have denied the boy’s claims stating that the victim set himself on fire. According to news agency ANI, Chandauli SP Santosh Kumar Singh said that claims made by the boy were false.

The SP was quoted as saying, “He had given different statements to different people, so it seemed suspicious. It seemed he had been tutored. Police monitored CCTV footage of places he had mentioned and found that he had not been at any of those places.”

News agency IANS quoted the boy as saying, “I was walking on Dudhari bridge when four men kidnapped me. Two of them tied my hand and third one started pouring kerosene. After which they set me on fire and ran away.”

He later said that he was being forced to chant Jai Shri Ram.

The incident came to light on the same day a former army officer was lynched to death by an unknown group of people in Amethi, the constituency of Union Minister Smriti Irani. Amanullah was killed by a mob with sticks at his house in Amethi.