Shaheen Bagh protest: Infant dies due to cold, will continue to join sit-in, says mother

Four-month-old Mohammed Jahaan, who use to accompany her mother to the Shaheen Bagh demonstration, has died last week after developing severe cold and congestion and getting exposed to the winter chill at the protest site.

The infant breathed his last on the morning of January, 31.

Speaking about the incident, infant's mother Nazia said, "I returned late from the agitation and made beds for my three children. I slept after all three were sleeping but in the morning when I woke up I found that Jahaan was not responding. We took him to Alshifa Hospital where doctor declared him brought dead".

Nazia has been regularly attending Shaheen Bagh protest since December 18 and has two more children including 5-year-old girl Ayat and two-year-old Noor Nawaj.

Nazia, however, says that she will continue to attend the protest as it was for the country.

"My son had caught cold, there was no other health issue. We will still go to protest for our country. We do not have any documents, what will we do? We demand that Modi ji and Amit Shah ji should take back Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC)," said Nazia, the mother of Jahaan.

"We will continue to protest unless Centre rolls back CAA and NRC," she added.

The deceased's parents, Mohammed Arif and Nazia, live in a tiny shanty made up of plastic sheets and clothes in Batla House area of Delhi.

Protests have been going on at Shaheen Bagh since December 15 last year against the Citizenship Amendment Act due to which Kalindi Kunj road has been shut for traffic movement.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghstan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

( With inputs from ANI )