Handwara: Police detains molestation victim, father

Amid protests over the alleged molestation of a female student by an Army soldier in Handwara, 72 kms from Srinagar, the police has detained the 16-year-old student and her father even after a video was circulated by the Army on Wednesday showing her saying she was harassed by two local youth and there was no Army jawan present in the public lavatory where she is believed to have been molested. The video was apparently recorded in a police station on April 12 and her family said she has not been allowed to return home since.

It said that on Wednesday night, her father was also called to the Handwara police station. After reporting to the police, along with his brother, his whereabouts are not known and the family has been denied access to the girl and her father. Civil society sees it as a pressure tactic by the police to force the family to withdraw the allegations against the Army. “The manner in which the video has been recorded and then circulated is a gross violation of the special protections afforded to minors, particularly during investigation of sexual assault cases. The actions of the police and the Army would necessarily invite criminal prosecution if investigated,” the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society said in a statement here.

Meanwhile, reports said at least, three protesters were injured in fresh clashes on Thursday. One of them, reportedly hit by a teargas shell in Handwara area, is being brought to Srinagar for specialised treatment, reports said.

Handwara has been declared out of bounds for the media.

Even National Conference leaders were allegedly refused security cover by the authorities.

Most other separatist leaders and activists have either been placed under house arrest or are in police stations after being taken into “preventive custody”.

CM Mehbooba Mufti, who returned on Thursday, immediately called a high-level meeting at her residence with top police and security officials, including DGP K. Rajendra Kumar.