'Very disturbed': Viral picture of 8-year-old girl from Prayagraj demolition catches Supreme Court's attention

While coming down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government and the Prayagraj Development Authority for the 2021 demolition drive, the Supreme Court took note of a viral video of an eight-year-old girl who was seen clutching her books and running as a bulldozer razed shanties in UP’s Ambedkar Nagar. “There is a viral video where a small girl can be seen outside a demolished house. Everyone is very disturbed by such visuals," Justice Ujjal Bhuyan remarked during the hearing, as reported by Live Law.

Why did Ananya Yadav run? The video of Ananya Yadav (8) is from an anti-encroachment drive in Jalalpur, Ambedkar Nagar, according to PTI. A report by India Express stated that the schoolbag contained Hindi, English and “ginti ki” (maths) books. These are her most prized possessions which she thinks will help her one day to become an “IAS adhikari” and “protect the country”.



So, Ananya rushed to save the books when a shed close to where the bag was kept caught fire during a demolition drive in Ambedkar Nagar on March 21. Ananya studies in Class 1 of the Government Primary School in Arai. “I returned from school and kept my bag in the chappar (thatched shed), where my mother had tied the animals.

(During the demolition), there was a fire in the chappar next to ours, and I immediately thought of my school bag and books. My mother tried to stop me, but I broke free and ran,” Ananya told The Indian Express. Her grandfather, Ram Milan Yadav (70), told IE the administration had come to demolish structures on about “two biswa” of land, which their family has occupied for “50 years”.

The police said that the demolition was carried out to remove encroachments from village land based on an ejection order of the Jalalpur tehsildar court. The bench of Justice AS Oka and Justice Bhuyan expressed concern over the manner in which demolitions were being conducted in the state. The apex court also asked the authorities to pay a fixed compensation of Rs 10 lakh to each homeowner who approached the court in such cases within six weeks.

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