Family of Indian teen held by Chinese troops alleges torture in detention

Miram Taron, 17, was allegedly abducted by the Chinese military near the India-China border

17-year-old Miram Taron was allegedly abducted by the China’s border patrol troops in Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India (Tapir Gao / Twitter)

The family of a 17-year old Indian who was recently returned by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has alleged he was tortured by them during his detention, according to reports.

Miram Taron, from Arunachal Pradesh, was on a hunting trip with a party when he ventured near the Lungta Jor area - close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which divides India and China - and was allegedly abducted by Chinese soldiers on 18 January.

Miram was handed over to the Indian army on 27 January – a week after he went missing – after the incident forced India to open high-level diplomatic talks and led to a huge political outcry.

While Miram’s family was overjoyed after they were reunited with the teenager after almost two weeks following quarantine and legal formalities, his father said they were anguished by the treatment of their son by the Chinese troops.

Opang Taron, his father, has claimed that his son was allegedly given “electric shocks” and beaten in custody.

“My son was kicked several times by Chinese soldiers. They also gave electric shock to him twice,” his father told the Indian Express newspaper.

He said Miram was blindfolded and his hands were tired soon after he was captured and tried to escape the spot but could not as there were at least a dozen PLA troops around him.

“If that was not all, Chinese soldiers took him to a PLA camp and questioned him in Tibetan, which he failed to understand. My son tried to communicate in Hindi and Adi, which is our mother tongue,” Mr Taron said.

“The Chinese didn’t understand what he was saying and continued to question him in Tibetan. Since he failed to understand them, they got upset. Later, they gave him electric shocks,” the father added.

Following the abuse allegations, India’s foreign affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Thursday that the issue has been raised with the Chinese side.

India has not yet remarked on the allegations of torture. A foreign ministry statement last week said Miram “is in high spirits and is elated to be back to his country”.

The Chinese government has not commented on the claims, and could not immediately be reached for comment.

The incident led to a political outcry and public outrage and comes amid increasing tension between Beijing and New Delhi as they remain locked in an acrimonious border dispute that has lasted for more than a year.

The two countries have frequently clashed over their 3,488-km long Himalayan border from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.

China has also asserted its claim on the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of what it calls “South Tibet”.

In the latest blow to the relationship between the two Asian powers, India announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics after China angered its neighbour by making an army officer involved in an inter-border skirmish at Ladakh’s Galwan Valley in 2020 an Olympic torchbearer.

India’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday at a press briefing that it was “regrettable that China has chosen to politicise the Olympics.”

India’s public broadcaster Doordarshan also said it would not live telecast the opening or closing ceremony as was earlier planned.