In a bizarre incident, an 11-year-old boy appeared before the Supreme Court bench to prove he was alive during his own murder trial. According to a report by Times of India, the boy, who was being considered as the victim, told the division bench that the murder case was a false one.

Abhai Kumar, the 11-year-old boy from Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit told the top court that his father had falsely implicated his grandfather and uncles in a fake murder case, reported TOI.

The Supreme Court accepted the petition saying “No coercive steps shall be taken against the petitioners till further orders.” It also issued notices to the state government, Pilibhit SP and the station house officer of Neuria police station in the matter.

Revealing the details, the boy’s counsel Kuldeep Jauhari told the national daily that Abhai had been living with his maternal grandfather, a farmer, since 2013 after his father had brutally beaten up his mother for more dowry.

Abhai’s mother, who got married in February 2010, succumbed to her injuries in March 2013. Later, the grandfather lodged an FIR of Dowry death under IPC Section 304-B against his son-in-law.

On the other hand, the boy’s father demanded his son’s custody and since then, the two sides have been engaged in a bitter legal battle with both parties slapping cases against each other, the report added.

Jauhari further revealed that Abhai’s father had accused the boy’s grandfather and his four sons (Abhai’s maternal uncles) of the boy’s murder and lodged a case under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

The grandfather approached the Allahabad high court but it dismissed the petition. “They approached the Allahabad high court for quashing the FIR but the court dismissed the petition as a result of which they had to appear in the Supreme Court along with Abhai as evidence he is alive,” Jauhari told the national daily.

The case will now be heard in January 2024.