“Atif and his uncle, Abdul Hameed, were abducted when the family tried to flee the house as security forces cordoned off the area.”
The jihadis apparently thought that by fleeing, they were siding with unbelievers against the believers, and therefore the boy could lawfully be taken hostage and killed.
“J&K: 12-year-old boy held hostage, killed despite mother’s appeal to militants,” by Adil Akhzer, Indian Express, March 23, 2019:
A 12-year-old boy held hostage in Bandipora for around nine hours was killed Friday by militants before they were gunned down by security forces, police said. While the boy’s uncle, who was also held hostage was rescued Thursday, police said militants refused to let the boy out despite pleas on loudspeakers by his family.
Until Friday morning, Shareefa Jan, held hope that her 12-year-old son, Atif Mir, might come out alive amid the raging gunfight between militants and security forces in north Kashmir’s Hajin village. But when the 24-hour gun battle ended in the afternoon, that hope shattered….
Atif and his uncle, Abdul Hameed, were abducted when the family tried to flee the house as security forces cordoned off the area.