A four-month-old baby boy has died in India after his mother brought him along to protests against Narendra Modi’s new citizenship law.

The child’s 24-year-old mother, Nazia, had been taking part in the occupation of a major road in Delhi, a sit-in protest that has now entered its 52nd day.

The demonstration in the Shaheen Bagh neighbourhood has persisted despite temperatures dipping into single digits on cold nights in the capital.

The protests have been fuelled by opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a law granting a new path to Indian citizenship for refugees of all religions except Muslims.

A protest organiser confirmed to The Independent that Nazia’s son, Mohammed Jahaan, had died after accompanying her to the sit-in, where many participants are Muslim women and are observing a hunger strike for 12 to 14 hours a day.

Nazia’s husband, Mohammed Arif, said she had returned home with Jahaan and their two other children – a five-year-old girl and a boy aged one – at around 10pm on 29 January, and Jahaan appeared to have a fever.

The baby awoke crying in the night, and the couple resolved to bring him to see a doctor the next day. They found him unresponsive in the morning, however, and he was declared dead upon arrival at hospital.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Nazia blamed the government’s measures, which have sparked protests across the country, for her child’s death.

“I would bring him to the protest to fight for the future. He was only a witness in the fight,” she said.

She suggested her family may not support her involvement in the protests, but said what happened to Jahaan would only strengthen her resolve to keep demonstrating.

“I am not afraid of anyone now,” she said. “I have already lost a child. I don’t mind if the lives of my other two kids are sacrificed for the same cause.”

The Modi administration says the CAA will help protect minorities fleeing to India from its Muslim-majority neighbours, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

But critics of the measure say existing asylum laws already catered well to anyone fleeing persecution, and that the CAA is instead the latest attempt to reform India as a Hindu nation. Muslims make up secular India’s largest minority, around 14 per cent of the population.

The law and a connected crackdown on illegal immigrants, through the introduction of a National Register of Citizens, have sparked hundreds of protest rallies across the country and at-times deadly clashes between protesters and police.

Protests against India's new citizenship law Show all 15 1 /15 Protests against India's new citizenship law Protests against India's new citizenship law Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti activists take part in a torch light procession to protest against the government's Citizenship Amendment Bill, in Guwahati AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Police clash with protesters during demonstrations against India's new citizenship law in Lucknow AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Muslim women raise their hands and shout slogans during a protest rally held by the Muslim community against India's new citizenship law in Bangalore AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Young protesters shout slogans and demonstrate with their body painted during a demonstration against India's new citizenship law AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law A woman holds a placard at a protest outside Jamia Millia Islamia university over Indias new citizenship law in New Delhi AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law A policeman looks at protesters from leftist groups trying to break through a barricade as they demonstrate against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India's new citizenship law in Kolkata AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Police beat protesters with sticks during a demonstration against India's new citizenship law in Lucknow AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law A man holds a placard as he shouts slogans to protest against India's new citizenship law, during a demonstration in New Delhi AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Protesters stand with a large Indian flag by the Jama Masjid mosque at a demonstration against Indias new citizenship law in New Delhi AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law TOPSHOT - In this photo taken on December 19, 2019 police beat protesters with sticks during a demonstration against India's new citizenship law in Lucknow. - Indians defied bans on assembly on December 19 in cities nationwide as anger swells against a citizenship law seen as discriminatory against Muslims, following days of protests, clashes and riots that have left six dead. (Photo by STR / AFP) (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images) STR AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law A protester from Shaheen Bagh, with an Indian map painted on his face, takes part in a demonstration against India's new citizenship law at Jantar Mantar AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Muslim women drink chai (tea) on a street in front of a wall covered with posters and graffitis to protest against India's new citizenship law, during a demonstration in Mumbai AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Members of the Karnataka Reserve Police Force swing their sticks to beat two men on a scooter who rode too close to a barricade set up on a street in Mangalore, amid heightened security due to protests over Indias new citizenship law AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law The deserted Shaheen Bagh area, that has been blocked off by demonstrators AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Students from various colleges under the aegis of National Students Union of India (NSUI) hold a national flag during a protest rally against India's new citizenship law in Bangalore AFP via Getty

Women have been at the forefront of the anti-CAA backlash in many places, and no more so than at Shaheen Bagh, in spite of the generally conservative perception of gender roles that persists in India today.

Speaking to The Independent at the sit-in last week, 62-year-old Shaheen said she had the strength to stand up to the government’s measures precisely “because I am woman”. Despite being part of the protest from the start, she said she was “fit and strong… [with] the energy to continue the fight for our country”. “Women in India are really powerful, more so than the men perhaps,” she said.

Shaheen called the CAA part of “a cumulative effort to take my rights away from me”, and an affront to “the beautiful [Indian] constitution, which is secular in nature”. “We have no choice but to come forward and fight,” she said.

Jahaan’s death has already led to renewed criticisms of the women protesting at Shaheen Bagh.

Indian media widely reported on a letter, written by the 12-year-old winner of a national bravery award, urging the Supreme Court to prevent children from being brought to protests.