Jammu & Kashmir

19 yr old injured after police allegedly assault her in quarantine facility, police deny

Representative Image.

It is a custom to blame the police. Our Jawans are doing their duty, says SSP Budgam

Srinagar: Panic gripped a quarantine centre in Kashmir’s Chadora district after a teenaged girl was allegedly hit by a constable. The girl, along with other people in the facility, was demanding information about their COVID-19 tests.

Alleging delay in the precess, people under quarantine at Nagam Polytechnic College in Chadora, say they are yet to know the status of their COVID-19 tests after after their samples were collected on May 12 at Udhampur.

An eye-witness says that the constable hit her on the chin and chest after which she lost her consciousness. “He was extremely brutal. They were then trying to take her to the medical facility in the police vehicle. We did not let that happen. We demanded an ambulance as we could not trust the policemen anymore,” she says.

“We were not making a fuss and my sister Fakira (name changed) was standing silently. All of a sudden, a police constable came and hit her. She fainted and the policeman kept abusing and threatening,” says Fakira’s brother.

In a recorded phone call, Fakira’s brother says that the police stands near the premises with their guns cocked. “She has fainted, we are trying to revive her. They are directly attacking women and now they are barging in,” he says while screaming at the people to go inside and not make the police more aggressive.

However, denying all the allegations, SSP Budgam, Amod Nagpure told Free Press Kashmir that people in Kashmir are used to blame the police and no policeman hit any girl.

“Basically, the people were protesting there because there was no sanitation facility available. Then the police went there and people had created a ruckus regarding the basic facilities in the quarantine centre. Meanwhile, the girl felt unconscious because of fasting and standing outside under the sun. Then she was provided with the medical help. No one hit her,” says Nagpure.

Adding to the statement, he says, “Whatever police do, they get blamed. The police is doing their duty in the quarantine centre, implementing the lockdown. The issue is not pertaining to the police but the civil administration.”

Asked if he has spoken to the policemen on duty about the allegations, he says, “when it comes to allegations on policemen, it is a custom to blame them. Our Jawans are doing their duty and they have no role in the issues that are being raised. Even if you watch the video, you will see the policemen taking her to the medical facility. Policemen did not beat anyone.”

 

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